GP phone consultations do not save time or money: Cambridge study NHS plans to force patients to have phone consultations with GPs will simply fuel more hospital admissions, instead of reducing pressures, a major study suggests.
Research by the University of Cambridge shows that practices which insist on a phone conversation with a family doctor to decide who can gets an appointment have a greater workload - and higher hospital costs.
Health officials have said such schemes are key to reducing strain on health services, at a time of unprecedented demand.
But the study of 147 practices which introduced “telephone first” schemes found that in fact they saw a two per cent increase in hospital admissions along with a sharp increase in the amount of time GPs spent on consultations. The Daily Telegraph
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Research by the University of Cambridge shows that practices which insist on a phone conversation with a family doctor to decide who can gets an appointment have a greater workload - and higher hospital costs.
Health officials have said such schemes are key to reducing strain on health services, at a time of unprecedented demand.
But the study of 147 practices which introduced “telephone first” schemes found that in fact they saw a two per cent increase in hospital admissions along with a sharp increase in the amount of time GPs spent on consultations. The Daily Telegraph
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