Family doctors are seeing fewer patients in person than they did last year, despite the hugely successful vaccine rollout, better Covid treatments and a more stable supply of PPE.
Shocking NHS figures reveal that patients were in the same room as their medic for just 54.8 per cent of consultations between January and July. That compares with 59.2 per cent last year, 80 per cent in 2019 and 82 per cent in 2018.
The rest are conducted by telephone or video. However, this category also includes consultations at a patient's home, which are extremely rare.
The figures also reveal that the figure for face-to-face appointments fell below 50 per cent during the lockdowns. GPs are on course to see 80 million fewer people face-to-face this year than in 2019, raising fears that more life-threatening conditions will be missed.
NHS England told surgeries in May to ensure they were offering face-to-face appointments to any patient who requests one.
But rates have crept up only marginally since, from 55.6 per cent that month to 57.2 per cent in July – still almost a third lower than pre-pandemic levels.
And the figures expose a postcode lottery of care, with just two local health areas – known as clinical commissioning groups – offering more than seven in ten appointments face to face.
NHS Castle Point and Rochford CCG topped the list with a rate of 72.6 per cent in July. But 13 CCGs are failing to offer even half of their appointments in person, with NHS South Sefton at the bottom of the league table on 44.9 per cent.
Dennis Reed, the director of Silver Voices, a campaign group for the over-60s, is leading calls for patients to be given a legal right to 'timely face-to-face GP appointments'. His petition on the official Government website has more than 16,000 signatures and will be considered for a debate in Parliament if it reaches 100,000. A survey of more than 500 elderly people by the campaign group in May found 71 per cent had struggled to obtain a face-to-face appointment.
Mr Reed said: 'If you can get through to your GP surgery on the phone you'll be interrogated by a receptionist and have to jump through so many hoops to get an appointment. Many elderly people find this so daunting that they have just given up trying and are suffering at home. It's very worrying and stressful for them.'
Mr Reed added:
