General Practitioners

(asked on 12th June 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average GP consultation time is with a patient in (a) England, (b) the South East and (c) Southampton.


Answered by
Steve Brine Portrait
Steve Brine
This question was answered on 20th June 2018

Information on the average cost to the public purse of a general practitioner (GP) appointment is not available.

Information on the proportion of missed GP appointments is held by each individual practice and it is not collected or held centrally. The average GP consultation time with a patient is determined by each practice, depending on the needs and demands of their patient list. Hence, the information is not held centrally.

NHS England is actively encouraging the use of online services. The actual offer will differ from practice to practice, but almost all practices offer online appointment booking, repeat prescription ordering and access to GP records. Giving people access to their records and, in particular test results, often eliminates the need for consultations. In addition, £45 million over three years has been made available to support the implementation of online consultation in primary care. Practices are also encouraged to use online or telephone triage and signposting to alternative services.

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