Online GP consultation 'of limited use', study finds

[Northerner]

Online consultations may not be the key to reducing doctors' workload and cutting patient waiting time, a health service study has found.

NHS England is offering a £45m fund to support GP practices to adopt online consultation systems.

But researchers say evidence from a pilot shows the use and effectiveness of it is "limited".

eConsult said it had implemented recommendations from the research following a 15-month pilot.

The National Institute for Health Research-funded study evaluated eConsult - where patients can submit their symptoms to a GP electronically - which was piloted in 36 GP practices in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

It discovered 38% of the online consultations led to a face-to-face contact and a further 32% led to a phone consultation.

The study, which was carried out by academics at the University of Bristol, also found usage was low at two online consultations per 1,000 patients.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42084224

 

[Ditto]

I saw a SciFi film once set in the future where this young lady went into her all white bathroom and looked in the mirror of the cabinet over the sink, then opened it or something and there was the doctor on the screen. She just told her symptoms and was advised on drugs to take. Maybe not so far off into the future!

 

[mikeyB]

That’s no surprise at all. How do you complain about your haemorrhoids on line? Itchy ladies bits? A cough? Earache? Swollen glands? The list of conditions that can’t be diagnosed without examination is enormous.

 

[Amigo]

It puts me in mind of the ‘Correspondence Course’ once offered to train chiropodists. I wondered if they sent applicants bunions and corns through the post to examine! Sometimes it just has to be hands on and personal observation.

When I see myself on Skype I always think I look ill and shocked anyway! 🙄

 

[grovesy]

Never used Skype but colours on computer screen often look off anyway.

 

[trophywench]

I grudgingly tell you that the first Mrs Chapman wasn't at all bad looking, far from it in fact. But she looked terrible in 99% of photos and hence rarely let anyone take one - if she knew about it.