GPs and other professionals are ramping up their appointments

Responding to the latest data on GP appointments, Dr Nicole Atkinson, medical adviser for primary care at the NHS Confederation, said:

“Primary care teams are carrying out record levels of appointments with over 25.4 million undertaken in February, which is far more than in the same month in the previous two years.

“Around three in five of these appointments were face-to-face, which shows the NHS understands the value many patients place on this form of contact, while also embracing technology and providing remote consultations where clinically appropriate.

“GPs and other professionals are ramping up their appointments in the face of the same challenges as the rest of the NHS, including crippling staff vacancies and high sickness absences.

“This is why they were relieved the Government has confirmed free testing will continue for NHS staff from April alongside free PPE so that they can provide safe environments for their teams and patients, at a time when coronavirus is in high circulation.

“But to maintain this level of activity and respond to rising demand for healthcare, they desperately need a funded workforce strategy. The last thing they want is for public satisfaction in the NHS to dip through no fault of their own as the Government sets high expectations on the NHS without the necessary support to deliver.”