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Boris Johnson last night said people were ‘entitled’ to see their GP in person – as he warned that thousands would ‘suffer’ unless face-to-face consultations were reinstated.
Speaking to reporters in the US, the Prime Minister said in-person appointments were vital in ensuring life-threatening conditions were picked up early.
And he firmly rejected a warning from the head of the Royal College of GPs that face-to-face appointments may never return to pre-pandemic level.
Before the pandemic, about 80 per cent of consultations took place in a doctor’s surgery – but as of July, the figure stood at just 57 per cent.
Boris Johnson last night said people were ‘entitled’ to see their GP in person – as he warned that thousands would ‘suffer’ unless face-to-face consultations were reinstated
A poll for the Daily Mail today shows 85 per cent of people believe they should be able to have a face-to-face consultations if they want one.
It follows the launch of this newspaper’s five-point manifesto, calling for greater access to doctors, and demanding the Government to make good on its manifesto pledge for 6,000 more GPs.
Mr Johnson’s intervention came a day after Britain’s top GP rejected calls to give all patients the right to in-person consultations.
Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, told MPs on Tuesday that Covid safety measures and high demand mean it is not possible to offer in-person consultations to people simply because they would ‘like’ one.
A poll for the Daily Mail today shows 85 per cent of people believe they should be able to have a face-to-face consultations if they want one
Asked about Professor Marshall’s comments, Mr Johnson said: ‘People should see their GPs in person if that’s what they need.
'Some people will be happy with other contact or reassurance, but a lot of people will need a face-to-face appointments and all the reassurance that gives. I want to see GPs seeing the right people at the right time and the right place.’
He added: ‘We are pledged to deliver another 50 million GP appointments. People need the security and confidence that they will be treated in person by a GP who can have proper hands-on understanding of the problem they have got. That is only reasonable.
‘I am absolutely certain that – unless we can deliver that –
