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Patients have submitted requests regarding life-threatening conditions non-urgent forms The following changes to online access GP Surgery, the family doctors said.
GP surgery from 1 October England It is essential to keep your online consultation platform open during working hours for non-urgent appointment requests, medication related queries and admin requests.
However, family doctors told Pulse magazine that they have received reports from patients about difficulty breathing, rectal bleeding and severe vomiting, which are designed to be non-emergency situations.
A new survey of 431 GPs and practice managers by Pulse found that more than two-thirds (67 per cent) are concerned about patient safety since the changes.
Dr Caroline Delves, a GP partner in Norfolk, said she had clinical questions about a six-week-old baby who had a growing red lump and asked about another five-week-old baby who was lethargic and vomiting.
According to Dr Delves, another patient managed to get to A&E after filling out a non-urgent medical form saying he couldn’t breathe, but he may have had to wait longer to be signposted.
He added: “This is on a form that is allegedly non-urgent – it could have sat there until we completed the other 70 forms we had to look at, which would have been unsafe.
“We had someone on Monday who disclosed through the address change administrator form on Monday morning that they had been vomiting blood all weekend.
“I think policy makers probably have a level of expectation of health literacy that doesn’t exist for everyone on the ground.”
a GP from West Midlands Said that due to this change the demand for employees has increased.
He told Pulse: “We are doing 340 to 400 medical tests on Mondays, and 200 to 300 on other days. This is excessive and unsafe. Patients are dealt with quickly through further symptom questionnaires but this will make us nervous.
“By the time 5pm comes and administration needs to work, it is hard to focus on the septic, suicidal or end-of-life patients we are trying to prioritize amid all the questions troubling us.”
Another GP warned: “Processing and triaging requests online after an intense 13-hour clinical day is unsafe and unsustainable.”
it comes after British Medical Association ,BMA) entered into dispute with the government over changes to online access.
The union argues that certain safeguards have not been put in place to support the change and no additional staff have been assigned to manage the requests.
It claims this could put patient safety at risk as staff try to find the most urgent cases, with fears that reviewing online requests would take too long.
Dr David Wrigley, vice-chairman of the BMA’s GP committee, said: “It is extremely worrying – and sadly not surprising – that GPs are concerned for patient safety as a result of these contract changes.
“We have repeatedly warned the government over the past six months that allowing unlimited online consultation requests without the necessary safeguards or additional resources would overwhelm already stretched teams, divert doctors from face-to-face appointments and risk urgent cases being missed.
“General practice is not against the use of technology and has been adopting it for over 30 years, but innovation without safeguards is dangerous.
“We believe this new initiative poses significant risk to patients and our practice teams, and the Government must deliver the protections it committed to in February.”
Dr Amanda Doyle, national director of primary care and community services at NHS England, said: “It is right that patients should be able to contact their GP practice online – in addition to calling and walking in – which is why this was agreed by the BMA’s General Practice Committee in February.
“In many practices already offering this service, patient satisfaction is high.
“Patient safety remains our priority and guidance and support has been provided to practices to help them take the necessary safety measures for urgent clinical requests.”