Covid: face-to-face GP appointments still not being offered to all

Face-to-face appointments are still only possible for just over half of all patients in parts of the West.

GP appointments largely moved online in lockdown and although restrictions have eased, many are still being conducted remotely.

Despite this, one GP from South Gloucestershire said her workload is the busiest it has ever been.

Dr Lucy Pocock said: "I got home at the end of a 12-hour day and I shed a few tears."

Dr Pocock works at Cadbury Heath Healthcare and said GPs are still carrying out many appointments by phone or video chat due to pressures on the NHS.

The latest figures come from NHS Digital.

Dr Pocock said: "Our reception team are taking hundreds of phone calls a day from patients, and sadly they can't always offer what the patient wants.

"Our receptionists are taking a lot of abuse. It feels much harder than it ever has felt before.

Dr Pocock said she feels, for the first time, that she does not want to be a GP.

Elizabeth Gill, from Bristol, gave birth to her second son earlier this year - and contacted her practice after experiencing stomach pains.

Elizabeth believes a face-to-face appointment would have prevented the situation escalating to such a serous point and said she would not accept a phone appointment in future.

She had several phone consultations, despite requesting a face-to-face chat, and eventually ended up being taken to hospital to have a 20cm cyst removed.

Elizabeth said: "I'm usually like 'no I need to be seen', which sounds quite diva of me, but going from that negative experience I can't be in that position again."

She added: "Over the phone you will never get the full picture. Sometimes they ask you to send pictures in, people who don't have phones or elderly people miss that opportunity."

The situation in the West of England in October 2021.

The government has encouraged GPs to see more patients face-to-face again.

But with Covid safety measures still in place, rising demand for appointments and the number of doctors falling, practices are facing a huge challenge.