Coroner warns GP 'virtual' appointments will increase unnecessary deaths.

 In March 2020, NHS England instructed family doctors to adopt a "total triage" approach and to see patients in person, only after a video consultation, to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus. This May, NHS England wrote to GP's telling them to "ensure they are offering face-to-face appointments" adding that remote appointments "should be done alongside a clear offer of appointments in person." But despite lockdown restrictions having been lifted, many people are still struggling to see their GP in person. In July, in-person appointments made up up 57% of total appointments, compared with 80% in the same month in 2019.

Alison Mutch, the Senior Coroner for Greater Manchester, has warned that the inability of some patients to see GP's in person, was contributing to deaths. The Health Service Journal reported that the Coroner had preside over five inquests during the Covid epidemic and had said that patients should have better care, as some could have been referred more quickly for vital treatment had they been seen face-to-face. 

Once case that Alison Mutch investigated was that of retired welder, Brian Mottram (79), who died after collapsing at home in Hyde, Greater Manchester, just two days after his GP failed to spot he had symptoms of Coronavirus during a telephone appointment. A lung cancer survivor, who also suffered from diabetes, he complained of shortness of breath and a tight chest. According to the Coroner's report, he was prescribed antibiotics. His 76-year-old widow Jean, said: "It's time for doctors to get on and do what they're paid for and see patients properly, which means face-to-face. What's the use of them otherwise?"

Despite tragedies of this kind, a survey of family doctors - who earn an average £100,000 per annum - by Pulse magazine, found 79% of GP's saying that a return to pre-pandemic levels of in-person consultations was unnecessary. Some 61% of GP's also said that they feared they may be putting their own health at risk if they offer more face-to-face appointments. 

It may seem bizarre to many people, but NHS contracts do not require GP's to do face-to-face interviews with their patients. There have been reports of GP's asking patients to cough into the phone. Similarly, how do you examine a person's chest over the phone or check their blood pressure? If you do a Skype consultation, do you check to see if a patients' tongue is heavily pixelated?

Despite being strapped for cash and there being a shortage of doctors and nurses, the NHS are currently recruiting 42 "monstrously overpaid bureaucrats", Chief Executive Officers, on salaries averaging £223,000 per annum. While many GP's seek to avoid contact with their patients, those courageous doctors and nurses who work in our NHS hospitals, have little choice in the matter. I take my hat off to them.