GPs are losing the equivalent of 200,000 appointments each week due to Labour’s forced introduction of Online booking forms, a survey reveals.
Doctors say they have had to reduce the number of consultations they offer so they have time to trawl through the influx of messages, leading to increased waits for patients.
An updated NHS contract that came into effect last month means surgeries must allow appointment requests to be submitted via their website between 8am and 6.30pm.
The change was intended to improve access and end the 8am telephone scramble for appointments.
But medics have complained that patients are using the forms to report potentially life-threatening conditions, such as breathing difficulties, severe vomiting and acute chest pain.
And they are now having to spend an average of 53 minutes each week dealing with online requests, according to a survey by trade magazines Pulse and Management in Practice.
Some 93 per cent of respondents said their practice has implemented the changes – up from 60 per cent before 1 October.
Almost half (47 per cent) have seen waiting times increase as a result and just over a third (36 per cent) said they are able to clear all late online requests on the day.
Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Common measures for dealing with the changes reported by GPs include blocking appointments to create time for triaging (58 per cent), extending staff hours (43 per cent) and hiring new workers.
The survey of 431 GP practices found the average doctor is spending around 53 minutes per week on implementing the changes, while non-GP clinical staff typically spend 42 minutes and admin staff 31 minutes.
If representative of the entire GP workforce in England, this equates to over 34,000 GP hours each week, or 209,442 10-minute appointments.
Surrey GP partner Dr Dave Triska said his practice has seen an approximate 15 per cent increase in online submissions since 1 October, despite his practice deciding to turn off the tool in the middle of the day to give receptionists time to phone patients.
Dr Triska said the increase in expectations of immediate access is like ‘trying to fit a pint into a thimble’ given the capacity of GPs to deal with requests.
The British Medical Association has argued that because the systems cannot tell the difference between routine and urgent enquiries, serious problems could be ‘lost inside the huge haystack of unmet patient need’.
The Government has repeatedly dismissed the union’s concerns, with health secretary Wes Streeting insisting there are ‘clear’ safeguards and it is ‘absurd’ that people can book a haircut online but some GPs still refuse to let patients make appointments in the same way.
The BMA has entered into dispute with the government and could take industrial action over the matter.
A GP in Cambridgeshire said the changes have made their practice ‘feel even more like a production line’.
They said: ‘The GP day, which was previously already “full on” – grabbing lunch, difficult to find time even to eat, debrief registrars or go to the toilet – has now become even more relentless.
‘How sad to feel even more like a production line.
Quality general practice needs time to pause, evaluate, reflect, contact patients about abnormal results, check in on cancer or palliative patients.
‘With all inputs on, all of the time in the day, the quality of care in other areas will reduce as we can’t fight fires and plan holistic medical care for vulnerable patients simultaneously.’
One Merseyside GP said both partners at their surgery are now working very long hours to prevent next-day backlogs building up.
They said: ‘I stay in the surgery until I can’t think any more, some days that’s been 10 or 11pm’.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘This data only represents a very small percentage of GP practices.
‘Patients want this service, with more people now contacting their GP online than by phone, and we gave practices six month notice to prepare for the rollout.
‘We are grateful to the majority of practices are already delivering this service successfully – to the benefit of patients and their care – and we are supporting others to increase compliance.
‘To support GPs, we have also provided an extra £1.1 billion of vital funding and have recruited 2,500 more GPs.’
