Report reveals risk to patient safety from online GP appointments, tell us your experience in Sefton!
Healthwatch England have responded to a report by the Health Services Safety Investigations Branch (HSSIB) which revealed that online consultations with GP surgeries involve risks to patients’ safety and have sometimes led to serious harm and even death.
You can read more including Healthwatch England’s comments in The Guardian article via this link: https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/25/online-gp-consultations-have-led-to-harm-and-death-investigation-finds
“We have heard of examples of people’s E-consult queries going unanswered for days or not providing the options that covered their issues. As a result, people faced delays getting prescriptions or the care needed for ongoing or urgent problems,” said Louise Ansari, Healthwatch’s chief executive.
“While some people like the fact that online consultation means they do not have to ring or visit their GP practice, others find digital-only communication “complicated and confusing”, she added. Surgeries should “maintain traditional models of care alongside digital methods”, Ansari said.
GP services
The annual GP patient survey showed that although three quarters of patients (74%) across the whole of England said that the overall experience at their practice was “good”, only half (50%) of respondents thought it was easy to contact their surgery by phone, slightly more than those who said it was easy to use the practice website (48%) or the NHS app (45%). More than a third (38.2%) of patients found it difficult to contact their GP practice on the phone.
Will Pett, head of policy and research at Healthwatch England, said: “We are calling for people to be given real choices when booking appointments and for GP numbers to be made free to call. “We would like to see more help given to get people to and from appointments, so that cost is never a barrier and access can be as easy as possible for everyone.
Tell us about your experience of accessing GP appointments, treatment and care at your surgery in Sefton!
You can visit the feedback centre on our website and search for your GP, then leave your comments anonymously so your experience and views are shared to help improve care for everyone. Here is a link:
https://www.healthwatchsefton.co.uk/services/
Or if you need to share your views by telephone call 0800 206 1304
Or you can email us info@healthwatchsefton.co.uk