Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Last month, I, alongside several colleagues, launched a new digital service that makes NHS GPs available to people – initially in London – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via their mobile phones.
GP at Hand harnesses technology to cut down the wait for a routine GP appointment from the current average of around two weeks to just a matter of minutes via video consultation. Face-to-face appointments are available on the same day or next if needed. Like any other NHS service, it’s free and means patients can see a GP when and where they want.
There has been a lot of heated debate about this new service. This is good; we should discuss it. However, where there are myths or misinterpretations out there, my colleagues and I will try to dispel them.
Critics claim the app will destabilise other practices. But most patients are happy with the practice they are at, and where people do move practices, the funding formula caters for this already. Primary care funding is not perfect, but a lot of thought has gone into matching payment to practice workload, and it will continue to evolve.
https://www.theguardian.com/healthc.../why-wait-appointment-see-gp-phone-gp-at-hand
GP at Hand harnesses technology to cut down the wait for a routine GP appointment from the current average of around two weeks to just a matter of minutes via video consultation. Face-to-face appointments are available on the same day or next if needed. Like any other NHS service, it’s free and means patients can see a GP when and where they want.
There has been a lot of heated debate about this new service. This is good; we should discuss it. However, where there are myths or misinterpretations out there, my colleagues and I will try to dispel them.
Critics claim the app will destabilise other practices. But most patients are happy with the practice they are at, and where people do move practices, the funding formula caters for this already. Primary care funding is not perfect, but a lot of thought has gone into matching payment to practice workload, and it will continue to evolve.
https://www.theguardian.com/healthc.../why-wait-appointment-see-gp-phone-gp-at-hand