Sajid Javid says lack of face-to-face appointments are piling pressure on A&Es

A lack of face-to-face GP appointments is putting ‘significant’ pressure on A&Es, the Health Secretary revealed today.

Sajid Javid warned patients are resorting to turning up at emergency departments because they can’t access a doctor in person.

Putting pressure on GPs to see more people face-to-face on the back of the pandemic, he said patients ‘stayed away from the NHS when they were asked to, they now want to be seen’.

It comes after a top GP last week blamed Britons’ ‘Amazon Prime mentality’ for the increasing number of patients turning up at A&E with symptoms that could be managed by a GP.

Mr Javid made the comments, which risk stoking tensions further with doctors, today to MPs on the Commons Health and Social Care Committee.

He said: ‘[A] significant portion of people are turning up for emergency care when they could have actually gone to their GP.

‘That is not the fault of those people at all. They have stayed away from the NHS when they were asked to, they now want to be seen and that is right.

‘But part of the reason I think people are turning up in A&E perhaps when they don’t need it is because they’re not able to get through to their primary care services in the usual way.’

Asked again if a lack of availability of GP appointments had led to increased pressure on A&E, he said: ‘I think that that general point is correct.’

It comes amid an explosive row about a lack of face-to-face consultation. Mr Javid has threatened to name and shame the worst-performing surgeries, while unions are considering industrial actions over what they deem to be unfair treatment.

Some four in ten appointments are still not being carried out face-to-face, figures showed. The above graph shows the proportion of appointments that have been face-to-face since September two years ago

Figures show that around six in 10 GP appointments are in person now compared to more than 80 per cent before Covid.

Mr Javid said he did not believe in setting a target for face-to-face GP appointments but hinted that the pre-pandemic proportion was a good ballpark.

He added: ‘The historic number was around 80 per cent it’s around 60 per cent now… for me it’s never been about a number, it’s about dong the right thing.

‘I guess it’s about choice, where you have a patient that wants to be seen face-to-face, it’s really important to meet that.’

Sajid Javid was asked about claims from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) that virtual GP appointments have led to increased demand on emergency departments.

He added: ‘During the pandemic, it’s understandable why virtual access … became a necessity, for many people there was sadly no alternative because of all the necessary rules.

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‘Where we are with that now is that as we move back to normal, those rules that kept people away are no longer there, plus there will be people that stayed away from their GPs, understandably, when they were asked to protect the NHS … as (people) come forward, it is important that ultimately there’s a choice in terms of how they’re seen.

‘I think as we get more and more access to primary care, that will certainly help with demand in accident and emergency care.’

But Mr Javid accepted that GPs were under ‘huge pressure’ due a backlog of people who never came forward during lockdowns.

He said: ‘I’m really proud of our GPs up and down the country… the last few months GPs have stepped up and as a nation we couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve done.

But in a subtle warning shot, he added: ‘It’s important patients can be seen as quickly as possible and where they have desire to be seen face-to-face, that choice should be respected.’

Last month, Mr Javid revealed that performance data from individual surgeries would be published regularly, including the number of face-to-face appointments.

GPs warned that publishing ‘league tables’ was unfair and demoralising. Some unions warned it could trigger a wave of retirements.

Mr Javid today distanced himself from the so-called league tables, telling MPs: ‘I never planned on having league tables, that never come from my Department, or the NHS.’

But family doctors warn the move – announced in the NHS blueprint to improve patient access – would inevitably be used as a league table, even if wasn’t the Government’s intention.

During his session with MPs, Mr Javid also admitted the Government would not hit its target of recruiting 6,000 more GPs by 2024.

Asked if the Government was on track, Mr Javid said: “No, I don’t think we are….We’re not on track, I am looking at what more we can do, I want to see that increase but I’m not going to pretend we’re on track when clearly we are not”.

Mr Javid also warned NHS leaders that they must embrace technology, adding that some hospitals are still using fax machines.