New Health Foundation analysis has found that only 10 per cent of patient care requests made to GP practices indicate a preference for a face-to-face consultation.
Examning data from 146 GP practices in England using the askmyGP online consultation system between 1 March 2019 and 30 September 2021, including over 7.5 million patient-initiated requests for care, the research found that only a minority of patient requests for care stated a preference for a face-to-face consultation – falling from 30 per cent of requests before the pandemic to less than four per cent at the start of the pandemic.
Even though requests for face-to-face consultations did increase after that, they only accounted for 10 per cent of requests by the end of the study period in September 2021.
The analysis indicates that telephone consultation was the most popular patient preference, favoured on average in 44 per cent of requests pre-pandemic, and by 55 per cent of patients in both 2020 and 2021. Meanwhile requests for a response via SMS/online messaging accounted for on average 26 per cent of requests pre-pandemic, rising to over a third in 2020 and 2021. Fewer than one per cent of patient requests asked for a video consultation.
The analysis also found that, at practices adopting a ‘digital-first’ approach, most patients initiated care requests via the online consultation system, rather than by telephone or in-person. Even before the pandemic, the largest proportion of patient requests were initiated online – this increased from 60 per cent in June 2019 up to 70 per cent just before the pandemic in March 2020, while overall demand remained low and fairly static over this period.
Arne Wolters, head of the Improvement Analytics Unit at the Health Foundation, said: “Since the start of the pandemic the use of online consultation systems such as askmyGP has accelerated. But a common concern around use of digital tools is their potential to create inequalities by making it difficult for some patients to access care. While this is certainly a risk, our analysis shows that patients often choose remote over face-to-face consultations and that GP practices can mitigate the risk of digital exclusion via a blended approach. Traditional routes to accessing and delivering care were offered alongside an online option and, in planning care, practices were able to take account of factors such as patients’ age, frequency of use, clinical needs and preferences.
“Our analysis provides further evidence that online consultation systems can facilitate choice and flexibility in how primary care is accessed and delivered. With patient demand at an all-time high due to the care backlog that has built up during the pandemic, digital tools can help practices manage this pressure, enabling them to triage patients to the right person or service and prioritise face to face consultations for those that need them most.”
