A survey by Pulse has found that over one third of GP practices have been forced to stop routine care in the past year.

Graham Kendall, Director of Digital Healthcare Council said:

“With record pressures on general practice, we need to make the most of every tool available, and digital providers can play a significant role in helping tackle that demand.

“By making more use of digital triaging, we can reduce pressures by pointing patients directly to the best place to help them immediately, instead of funnelling everyone through their GP by default. This would substantially improve how we use capacity across primary care, reduce pressure on GPs and allow resources to be focused on patients who need their support. 

“We can also make better use of high-quality remote consultations to alleviate pressures. Only around 10% of patients request face-to-face appointments when given a meaningful choice of consultation type, so we should make more use of remote consultations to address patients’ issues quickly and effectively, releasing capacity for patients who prefer an in-person appointment or who have more complex needs.”