From Tomorrow all patients will be able to request face-to-face appointment with their GP

LONDON May 16: From Monday ( 17th May), all patients will be able to request an in-person appointment with their doctor, unless they have Covid symptoms. Click to Read the Letter from NHS to GPs.

The NHS has told general practices to return to offering patients face-to-face appointments without needing prior telephone or online triage, reversing a policy that has been in place since the start of the pandemic, British Medical Journal has reported.

A row has surfaced in recent days after the Telegraph reported1 that NHS guidance continued to advise practices to use the “total triage” model, introduced in 2020 to reduce the risk of infection spreading at GP surgeries. The model requires patients to undergo a remote assessment before they can be offered a face-to-face consultation if one is deemed necessary.

The new letter said that ‘GP practices must all ensure they are offering face-to-face appointments’ and that both patients and clinicians should ‘have a choice of consultation mode’.

It added: ‘While the expanded use of video, online and telephone consultations can be maintained where patients find benefit from them, this should be done alongside a clear offer of appointments in person.