Summary
This briefing by The Health Foundation Improvement Analytics Unit looks at recent data around patient preferences for online and face-to-face consultations and examines the impact of the increasing use of online tools on patient access to primary care. The Improvement Analytics Unit examined 7.5 million patient-initiated requests for primary care made using the askmyGP online consultation system between March 2019 and September 2021 at 146 general practices in England. These practices had a combined total list size of 1.35 million patients.
Content
The analysis found that:
- only a minority of patient requests for care stated a preference for a face-to-face consultation – falling from 30% of requests before the pandemic to less than 4% at the start of the pandemic. While requests for face-to-face consultations did increase after that, they only accounted for 10% of requests by the end of the study period in September 2021.
- the increasing use of online consultations systems cause concern about the risk of digital tools creating inequalities by making it difficult for some patients to access care.
- digital exclusion can be overcome if GP services use a blended approach to booking and consultations.
Access to and delivery of general practice services: A study of patients at practices using digital and online tools (17 March 2022)
https://www.health.org.uk/publications/access-to-and-delivery-of-general-practice-services
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