Misery for the elderly as study suggests one in six GP practices now only take bookings online

The NHS is discriminating against older patients as one in six GP practices now only accept online bookings, a study suggests.

Campaigners are warning that Britons are missing out on vital care as the NHS ‘erects barriers’ that limit the ability to see a GP in person.

This is pushing people into private healthcare or overcrowded emergency departments and hitting those without internet access hardest, according to the over-60s group Silver Voices.

The survey of 1,200 members shows that 76 percent have experienced difficulties in obtaining a personal GP appointment.

Eighty percent were forced to accept a telephone consultation and 71 percent reluctantly saw another member of the practice staff.

Meanwhile, 18 percent have gone to A&E after being unable to make an urgent GP appointment and 31 percent have resorted to private healthcare. One in six practices (16 percent) now uses an application process for GP appointments via the internet, the research shows.

Only 24 percent are still accepting walk-in requests for GP appointments. Under the NHS GP contract, patients should be able to request an appointment if they attend in person or contact them by phone or online. But the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that one in ten callers never get through.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, said: ‘The GP is becoming an elusive species, with many arrangements to be made before the patient is finally given an audience.

‘It is therefore logical that large numbers of elderly people turn to private healthcare or emergency care out of desperation.’

An NHS spokesperson said: ‘The NHS published a plan earlier this year to restore access to GP services, including upgrading telephone systems to make it easier for people to contact their GP practices, while more than 31,000 have been diagnosed since 2019. additional employees have joined GP teams. make more appointments.’