Health chiefs have ordered a review of Covid rules in a move that could pave the way to more face-to-face GP appointments.
It comes less than a week after the Daily Mail launched a campaign to secure better access to family doctors.
GPs claim an ongoing two-metre social distancing rule stops them seeing more patients in person because waiting rooms are too small to accommodate them.
NHS England insists the requirement, which is specific to healthcare, should not prevent GPs from seeing people face to face.
But the number of consultations taking place in surgeries has plummeted from 80 per cent before the pandemic to just 57 per cent this July.
The huge rise in telephone and video consultations has sparked fears that serious diseases such as cancer are being missed.
The Prime Minister has himself stressed the importance of face-to-face appointments, warning: ‘I am absolutely certain that unless we can deliver that there will be people sadly whose symptoms are not picked up and who will suffer as a result.’
The Department of Health last night launched a review into infection prevention and control (IPC) measures across the NHS, which could see the limit of two metres reduced – or scrapped entirely.
June Walker, 67, first called her family doctor about her constant headache and sore shoulder last November. However, with no GP prepared to see her in person, she was simply referred for physiotherapy
Health chiefs have ordered a review of Covid rules in a move that could pave the way to more face-to-face GP appointments
A source said: ‘The review will examine which rules need to stay in place and which can now be safely dropped or amended. It is too soon to know what the outcome will be, but it will consider the obstacles that GPs have used to avoid seeing patients face-to-face.’
Dr Lisa Cameron of the SNP, chairman of the all-party health group in Westminster, said yesterday: ‘It’s great news that the Government is finally acting. It is time these guidelines are reviewed because most people are now double-jabbed, meaning they are much less likely to get significantly ill if they catch Covid.
‘I’m really concerned with the difficulty people are having securing appointments and the situation is now critical.
'We need to start getting more people to their GP face to face. If GPs can’t fit lots of people in their waiting room they should stagger appointments better.’
NHS England introduced widespread remote consultations in March last year in a bid to control the spread of coronavirus at the start of the pandemic.
It wrote to surgeries this May, telling them that virtual appointments could carry on when doing so is beneficial.
However, it made clear that they should be an option ‘alongside a clear offer of appointments in person’.
It added: ‘Patients’ input into this choice should be sought and practices should respect preferences for face-to-face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary – for example, the presence of Covid symptoms.’
Doctors have pointed to separate guidelines on infection control produced by the NHS and Public Health England, which state that practices must enforce two-metre social distancing and the use of face masks.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association, has written to Health Secretary Sajid Javid, claiming GPs who fail to see patients face to face are simply following these rules.
A poll for the Mail this week found that 85 per cent of people believe they should be able to have a face-to-face consultations if they want one. Yet a study has revealed that GP access of any kind has now become a postcode lottery.
In the worst-hit district, North East Lincolshire, just 35.8 per cent of patients get to see a doctor either in person or via a Zoom call according to the latest figures covering July.
The rest of those seeking a GP consultation were referred instead to a nurse or another member of practice staff. At the other end of the scale, almost twice as many people – 67.1 per cent – of those in South Sefton in Liverpool were seen by their GP.
The analysis from the Liberal Democrats also shows a massive disparity across the country when it comes to same-day appointments.
In the worst area, the Vale of York, just 38 per cent of consultations took place on the day they were requested – compared with 57 per cent in the top-performing area, Blackburn with Darwen.
Lib Dem health spokesman Munira Wilson said: ‘These figures reveal the postcode lottery facing GP patients, with people in some areas struggling to see a doctor or get a same-day appointment.
‘The Conservatives are failing to get to grips with this worsening crisis, with growing NHS waiting lists piling more pressure on GP surgeries. People deserve a fair deal where they can get an appointment with their local GP when they need one.
‘We need to see urgent action to train more GPs, boost funding for practices and ensure the vaccine booster programme doesn’t overwhelm them further.’
This week saw the Mail issue a five-point manifesto for change which includes a call for the Government to make good on its pledge to deliver 6,000 more GPs.
June Walker (pictured) endured eight months of excruciating headaches because her GP would not see her face to face and take her blood pressure
If I hadn't seen my patient in person, he'd have died... that's why it would be a disaster to rely on remote appointments
