What?
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has pledged £250 million to fund extra GPs to allow more face-to-face GP consultations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which rendered most GP visits telephone consultations only.
Why?
The public are frustrated that they cannot be seen face-to-face (F2F) like they used to, and the reported perception is that problems are being missed – and these may rear their heads in a worse way down the line. There has also been an increase in the number of people attending A&E, which is causing hospital services to creak under the burden. The theory is that fewer F2F appointments leads to higher A&E attendances. The government wants to put this right by showing a commitment to increasing the number of F2F appointments with a cash injection to recruit more GPs.
How will it affect you?
The cash injection will probably help this winter. GP surgeries may be able to recruit another doctor or two, to get more people through the door and seen F2F.
Given the funding boost, if you ring up your GP and ask for a F2F appointment, they should be more likely to accommodate you. GPs are going to be ranked on how many F2F appointments they have, and may have access to funding revoked if they aren’t making the numbers!
However, there are a few things to note here:
- The £250 million cash injection is a drop in the ocean compared to the real funding the NHS needs, and this cash for GPs is not going to get you your hip replacement or your gallbladder out any sooner – that’s going to take a whole lot more investment and changing services to deal with the operation backlog.
- This money should help the NHS a little in the coming sticky winter situation, especially with the double threat of COVID-19 and flu admissions we are expecting. But after the winter period, all bets are off.
- Telephone appointments are here to stay, and we believe this is a good thing. We can see more people per day via a combination of phone and F2F appointments, and then choose to see the sickest, or those that need to be seen, in an urgent follow-up appointment. In the current situation, for many of our patients, it is also safer to have this assessment take place over the phone, so they’re not being exposed to any winter virus nasties by coming in.
- We still F2F appointments if necessary, and these are made available if its clear that your needs would be better met in person.
Take it from us, we love nothing more than seeing patients all day. COVID-19 has taken so much of that away from doctors and nurses in GP land, and seeing people to have a natter is why a lot of us get up in the morning.
Right now though, our major concern is fighting through the backlog created by the pandemic and getting people seen as quickly as possible, by the right person.
If you have a health worry that’s not going away and isn’t an emergency, your best bet is still to ring up your GP surgery early doors and ask for the next available appointment. If it is over the telephone, remember:
- Let the doctor know how long it’s been going on for and everything you have been doing to cope in the meantime – this helps us get an idea of what we can do for you.
- If you’re out and about, or you haven’t got a landline, keep your phone charged and make sure you have signal. There’s nothing worse than finding three missed calls and having to go through the process all over again!
- If your appointment is later in the week (or the week after), but you need it sooner, make sure to ring up and get it moved sooner, if there’s a cancellation.
- On that note, if you can’t make the appointment, please let us know. Here is a quick tip about missing GP appointments.
myHSN’s top tip, however: some GPs offer video consultations. You’ll need a smartphone, a tablet or a PC. And if you don’t have one, ask a friend or relative for help. We know they are not quite F2F appointments, but they’re the next best thing, and there has been an explosion in virtual GP services, both privately and in the NHS – The Jetsons, eat your heart out!
Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
As always, with best wishes from myHSN.
