Calls for Dorset GP's to return to face-to-face appointments
Claims some patients are having difficulty in accessing services digitally.
Dorset GPs should be making themselves more available to patients – according to a couple of Dorset councillors.
One says they need to ‘up their game’.
Two councillors have spoken of the difficulty of some patients in getting appointments, especially those who are not familiar with modern technology or do not have smart phones.
Many of the county’s GP practices have switched to virtual consultations during the pandemic with patients asked to send in pictures of ailments or problems and to have consultations over the phone. Patients have been discouraged from visiting surgeries to protect medical staff and other patients.
Cllr Sherry Jespersen (Con) said the issue is now being raised frequently by constituents in her Hill Forts and Upper Tarrants ward :
“I have been getting quite a lot of feedback about the difficulty people have in accessing GP services . It is true that digital access has been put in place but I’m not talking here only about old people who wouldn’t be able to go online, I’m talking about all sorts of people, young and old, who have difficulty accessing the GP services.”
She said she was concerned that difficulty in seeing GPs was leading to a rise in a backlog of cases which needed treatment and an overall national increase in non-Covid deaths.
“I do think that there is a need for GP services in some parts of Dorset to up their game a bit and respond better. I don’t want to overstate it but that is certainly the feedback that I am getting,” she said.
Cllr David Shortell (Con), West Moors and Three Legged Cross, said that he had also been approached by people living in his area asking for the normal appointment system at GP surgeries to be restored along with child health programmes.
Dorset executive director for corporate development Aidan Dunn said that he would raise the issue with the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and would ask councillors for specific examples which could be raised. The item will also go to the council’s own health scrutiny committee.
Weymouth councillor and GP Dr Jon Orrell said afer the meeting that many GPs would like to get back to face to face consultations but with coronavirus still a threat this is just not possible.
“This move to talk on the phone or use email came about suddenly during the first peak. It was directed by London. It’s not just about staff, it’s to protect patients too. Who wants to sit in a waiting room next to someone who is coughing? Many things like getting a repeat prescription, treating a urine infection or chasing a hospital appointment can be done far quicker by phone or email,” he said.
“Patients are still seen face to face after a chat with the doctor. The change to triage all happened far faster than anyone would have planned or expected. Ideally I’d like to go back to more normal practice, however the coronavirus hasn’t gone. Autumn may bring a second wave. We failed as a country with PPE and proper local contact tracing. Until we have caught up with countries with better government, and vaccines arrive, life cannot resume as before,” he said.
Under current Government guidance GP surgeries are encouraged to minimise patient contact because of the risk of spreading coronavirus. Procedures to be followed are at the discretion of each surgery but are expected to fall within the ‘Covid Safe’ guidelines. Most surgeries are offering limited face to face appointment, where necessary.
By Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter