DOCTORS are being urged to increase the number of face-to-face appointments as part of NHS England and the UK Government’s strategy to tackle Covid-19 backlogs, but not everyone believes the plan is realistic.

Health secretary Sajid Javid has announced £250 million to increase access to GPs during the winter period as well as a review of infection control guidelines to ease the pressure on staff.

NHS England’s plan for improving access and supporting general practices said that the independent GP Patient Survey 2021 showed increases in overall patient satisfaction with general practices.

But it said: “At the same time, it is true that patients’ ability to access primary care is often not as good as it should be. Some patients are experiencing unacceptably poor access to general practice, including an inability to contact practices – as witnessed by their stories and those reported in the media.

Plans include a “zero tolerance approach to abuse or harassment” as some GPs surgeries including Maryport Group Practice have faced vitriol from members of the public unable to get a face to face appointment quickly.

New strategies developed at the practice during Covid-19 have meant that patients are given the information they need without needing a face-to-face appointment.

Maryport GP Dan Berkeley said: “My view is that there are definitely times that a face-to-face appointment is needed. There are also times when it is easier, faster, and just as safe to do a consultation remotely. Many practices were doing lots of remote consultations before the pandemic as well. They are not just a response to Covid, they are a response to trying to help as many patients in a day as possible with a limited number of doctors and nurses.”

Dr Berkeley has previously said that the new strategies mean people get help quicker as they do not have to wait until their doctor has a slot and that reverting to the old way of operating would mean returning to a situation nobody was happy with.

He said: “The elephant in the room is staffing. The reason that people are struggling to see their GP is to do with staffing. It's been made worse by Covid-19, but it's not because of Covid-19. It's because of decades of underinvestment in general practice by successive governments, and it's because of decades of not training enough GPs and other clinicians who work with GPs.”

“In short there are not enough GPs. This is why it is hard to see a GP. The face to face appointment issue is not the main issue. The main issue is staffing.”

GPs have received criticism throughout the Covid-19 pandemic for a perceived lack of leadership.

Dr Berkeley said: “I can't help but reflect on the way the government handled the mini petrol 'crisis'. At no point did any government minister stand up and accuse the drivers of oil tankers as 'lazy' and blame them for the lack of petrol at the pumps, instead the blame was laid correctly at the supply and distribution of fuel at that time. It was not the drivers fault that there was not enough fuel at the pumps.”

“We are in a similar crisis in general practice right now, but it feels that GPs are being blamed for access problems when in reality there are simply not enough of us for the demand.

“I'd like to see the government acknowledge the lack of GPs as the main issue affecting access at present - rather than continue to accuse my profession of not working hard enough.”

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