New requirements for GP surgeries to offer online appointment bookings throughout the day could worsen long-standing pressures unless capacity issues are urgently addressed.
That is the warning from the DAUK’s GP committee.
Dr Steve Taylor, GP co-lead at the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), said that while digital access can be helpful for patients, the rollout has been poorly planned and risks pushing overstretched surgeries to breaking point.
Speaking on Sky News, Dr Taylor said: “Every day, around 1.4 million people get appointments at GP practices compared with 67,000 attending A&E.
Capacity issues
“The issue isn’t that people can’t get through, it’s that we don’t have enough capacity.
“We’ve got unemployed GPs needing work and patients needing care, but not enough funded posts.”
The new rules, ordered by the Government and which came into force today, mean surgeries must offer online booking alongside traditional telephone and in-person requests.
Surgeries will have to provide the service from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Alongside requesting non-urgent appointments, patients will also be able to ask questions and describe symptoms and request a call back.
8am scramble for appointments
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the move will end the ‘8am scramble’ for appointments, and ease pressure on patients and surgeries.
But Dr Taylor warned the changes risk simply shifting the bottleneck.
“On the face of it, online access sounds brilliant,” he said. “But if a message comes through at 6.15pm, someone has to action it.
“In a small practice like mine, that means staff staying late with no safeguards in place. It hasn’t been thought through.”
He added that expectations are being raised without an increase in resources.
Online booking
“Patients may think booking online will be like booking a haircut, which is what Mr Streeting said this week.
“But the reality is, there aren’t more GPs, there aren’t more appointments. We’re already having to cancel some pre-booked face-to-face slots just to cope with this extra demand.”
Dr Taylor also challenged Government claims about GP numbers and funding.
While ministers point to 2,000 more GPs in the workforce, Dr Taylor said the real figure equates to around 1,000 full-time equivalents.
Additional NHS funding, he said, has been eroded by rising costs, leaving individual practices with too little to expand staffing.
GP unemployment
“As a GP, I look after 2,300 patients now compared with 1,800 just 10 years ago,” he said.
“There just aren’t enough GPs in employment, and funding hasn’t matched the increase in population.
“The Health Secretary said that there’s a billion extra pounds that have gone into general practice.
“But then you take away National Insurance contributions, increasing inflation and other things, that works out about £300 million.
“For a small practice like mine, that’s about £50,000, which might sound a lot, but actually doesn’t employ a GP.”
Capacity and safety
Dr Taylor added: “I do have some sympathy for the Health Secretary, there are tough choices across government.
“But this top-down policy hasn’t listened to doctors on the ground. Without fixing the root issues of capacity and safety, we’re just moving the pressure around.”
Watch Dr Taylor’s interview on Sky News again.
DAUK committee members are all volunteers and speak to the media about issues facing frontline doctors in their own time. Please support our work by joining DAUK or donating to our GoFundMe.
