Fewer than two-thirds of Lincolnshire GP appointments held in person

Fewer than two-thirds of GP appointments in Lincolnshire were held face-to-face after major steps to ease coronavirus restrictions went ahead, figures reveal.

Charity The Patients Association has called for in-person appointments to be the default option, after it found patients nationally had struggled to access primary care in “ways that met their needs” throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Data from NHS England shows 370,000 GP appointments were carried out in June within the NHS Lincolnshire CCG area, 63% of which involved a face-to-face meeting.

That was the same as in May.

NHS England issued guidance to GP practices in May urging them to offer more face-to-face appointments.

But across England, just 56% of consultations were held in person in June – a steep drop from the levels seen in June 2019, when 81% of appointments were face-to-face.

However, it was an improvement on the 47% recorded in June 2020.

Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association, said the charity welcomed the move to require practices to offer more in-person appointments to patients who want them, but investment was needed to ensure accessibility of primary care in the event of future pandemics.

She said: "Phone appointments, which is the other way most patients consult with their GPs, have become more common, and some patients like and will prefer them in future.

"But the pandemic shows the consequences of not investing adequately in the NHS."

The Royal College of GPs said GPs have worked hard to ensure the same level of care via remote consultations during the coronavirus crisis, but warned that general practice should not become a remote service post-pandemic.