Face-to-face appointments with doctors may not return

GP practices may not reopen for automatic face-to-face consultations, a Bartholomew Medical Group spokesperson has said.

Dr Kirsty Garrod of BMG said she believes it’s “unlikely” medical centres across the UK will return to solely in-person appointments and will continue with the triage system. She said that while more patients are being invited to the practice as the risk level drops, not everyone needs to see a clinician. “The fact is, not all medical issues require a face-to-face appointment, and can actually be more swiftly dealt with a simple phone call”, she said, adding, “Not only are we reducing patient flow in a building where we have clinical vulnerable patients coming in for check-ups with our nursing team and other clinicians, but we are able to deal with a greater volume of patients this way compared with before. “We are actively looking at what our ‘new normal’ will be, and trying to balance a system of ‘non-urgent’ appointments that patients can book directly into, with a ‘triage system’ for those issues patients deem urgent, or acute. “This will require patients to come on board though, as the majority of issues deemed urgent by patients are indeed non-urgent from a clinical perspective.

The announcement comes after “frustrated and stressed to hell” residents claimed they repeatedly rang the practice and had to wait “hours” to book an appointment, and sometimes were unable to secure an in-person consultation. A 72-year-old man claimed he rang the centre 53 times over two weeks, spending four hours and 25 minutes on the phone trying to secure an appointment for a medication review. An NHS nurse claimed that whilst at work she missed a call from a GP needing to conduct a medication review before she could pick up a “basic prescription”. She said she returned their call four minutes later and was on hold for over an hour before allegedly being told to “call another time”.

Dr Garrod said: “Complaints are at an all time high across the board, this is not unique to BMG”. While she admitted that the new phone system had initial “teething problems”, she confirmed that it’s being actively monitored with staff manning the calls during the busiest times, ensuring people are no longer waiting “several hours” to speak to someone. Those who are on hold are often blocked out by people ringing with vaccine related queries, something the practice has consistently asked people to avoid. Dr Garrod said that since the practice launched the vaccination program last year out of “ethical duty”, one GP, two nurse practitioners and multiple admin and reception staff were recruited to help with the “extraordinary increase” of work, categorically denying that staff have “hid” behind the program, as some residents have alleged. “Not all practices in the UK have signed up to the vaccination program, as it causes a significant impact on other clinical work, not to mention longer working hours and much planning. However, given our knowledge of our practice population and the fact that the mass vaccination centres are some distance away from them, we felt an ethical duty to offer this service locally so that they would not be disadvantaged.

Not only this, when the site for the local vaccination hub fell through, BMG stepped up and offered our practice as this hub, frequently welcoming all four other member practices to vaccinate out of our building. “The overwhelming response and feedback from the community has been positive, and spoken to the success of the local vaccination program - and indeed we have received national acclaim for our efforts.” Andrew Percy, MP said, “It’s vital that GP and NHS services get back to normal as soon as possible”, but also acknowledged that the local services are under “huge pressure” and the “risk from this virus has not gone away yet”. The NHS is at a “breaking point”, according to Dr Garrod, who said matters are made worse by patients verbally abusing staff on a daily basis and demanding medical advice and answers to the phone system on the streets. “[Staff] are shouted at in the waiting room and sworn at on the phone. They are approached by patients in the street, berating them about the phone lines and asking them to answer medical queries. We are doing everything in our power to offer good quality patient care to Goole and the surrounding areas, but we need our community to work with us. “If we ask patients not to ring us about vaccine appointments – please do not ring us. If we ask patients to give some information to a receptionist to help care navigate them to the most appropriate service - we need patients to give this rather than berate our reception staff for being nosey. If your problem is not urgent, and you are offered an appointment in two weeks’ time – please take it. “General Practice in the UK is evolving, and also in the process of recovering from possibly the biggest global disaster of our lifetime. We want to give patients a service that they are proud of, but equally we need our patients to understand the pressures that we are under, to hopefully allow them to understand why things are the way they are.”

system of ‘non-urgent’ appointments that patients can book directly into, with a ‘triage system’ for those issues patients deem urgent, or acute. “This will require patients to come on board though, as the majority of issues deemed urgent by patients are indeed non-urgent from a clinical perspective. The announcement comes after “frustrated and stressed to hell” residents claimed they repeatedly rang the practice and had to wait “hours” to book an appointment, and sometimes were unable to secure an in-person consultation. A 72-year-old man claimed he rang the centre 53 times over two weeks, spending four hours and 25 minutes on the phone trying to secure an appointment for a medication review. An NHS nurse claimed that whilst at work she missed a call from a GP needing to conduct a medication review before she could pick up a “basic prescription”. She said she returned their call four minutes later and was on hold for over an hour before allegedly being told to “call another time”. Dr Garrod said: “Complaints are at an all time high across the board, this is not unique to BMG”. While she admitted that the new phone system had initial “teething problems”, she confirmed that it’s being actively monitored with staff manning the calls during the busiest times, ensuring people are no longer waiting “several hours” to speak to someone. Those who are on hold are often blocked out by people ringing with vaccine related queries, something the practice has consistently asked people to avoid.

Dr Garrod said that since the practice launched the vaccination program last year out of “ethical duty”, one GP, two nurse practitioners and multiple admin and reception staff were recruited to help with the “extraordinary increase” of work, categorically denying that staff have “hid” behind the program, as some residents have alleged. “Not all practices in the UK have signed up to the vaccination program, as it causes a significant impact on other clinical work, not to mention longer working hours and much planning. However, given our knowledge of our practice population and the fact that the mass vaccination centres are some distance away from them, we felt an ethical duty to offer this service locally so that they would not be disadvantaged. Not only this, when the site for the local vaccination hub fell through, BMG stepped up and offered our practice as this hub, frequently welcoming all four other member practices to vaccinate out of our building. “The overwhelming response and feedback from the community has been positive, and spoken to the success of the local vaccination program - and indeed we have received national acclaim for our efforts.” Andrew Percy, MP said, “It’s vital that GP and NHS services get back to normal as soon as possible”, but also acknowledged that the local services are under “huge pressure” and the “risk from this virus has not gone away yet”.

The NHS is at a “breaking point”, according to Dr Garrod, who said matters are made worse by patients verbally abusing staff on a daily basis and demanding medical advice and answers to the phone system on the streets. “[Staff] are shouted at in the waiting room and sworn at on the phone. “They are approached by patients in the street, berating them about the phone lines and asking them to answer medical queries. “We are doing everything in our power to offer good quality patient care to Goole and the surrounding areas, but we need our community to work with us. “If we ask patients not to ring us about vaccine appointments – please do not ring us. If we ask patients to give some information to a receptionist to help care navigate them to the most appropriate service - we need patients to give this rather than berate our reception staff for being nosey. If your problem is not urgent, and you are offered an appointment in two weeks’ time – please take it. “General Practice in the UK is evolving, and also in the process of recovering from possibly the biggest global disaster of our lifetime. “We want to give patients a service that they are proud of, but equally we need our patients to understand the pressures that we are under, to hopefully allow them to understand why things are the way they are.”

Pictured are staff and volunteers who helped operate a vaccine clinic at Bartholomew Health Centre in March. (18-03-08 GTAH)