Tuesday 27 September 2022 08:05 AM Struggling GPs under pressure could refuse to see patients and send them to ... trends now
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Struggling GPs will be allowed to refuse appointments and send patients to other surgeries under a radical 'red alert' warning system.
Family doctors will also be given the right to conduct 'most' consultations remotely and enforce telephone triage when they cannot cope with demand.
It means sick Britons may have to plead with receptionists to be seen in person, as happened with devastating effect during the Covid pandemic.
NHS hospitals are already protected by a policy when high levels of demand threaten patient safety.
It allows trusts to receive external support, postpone non-urgent operations and divert ambulances elsewhere as pressure mounts.
Struggling GPs will be allowed to refuse appointments and send patients to other surgeries under a radical 'red alert' warning system
Now some GP surgeries that are under 'severe', 'extreme' or 'intolerable' pressure will also be able to adopt temporary emergency measures to help ease the strain.
Devon Local Medical Committee (LMC) – which represents GPs – and NHS Devon has agreed to pilot the system until December.
It is expected to become part of routine procedure from the start of 2023, with other counties likely to follow suit from the next financial year.
The development comes as public satisfaction with GPs is at an all-time low and as a shrinking number of family doctors
