- Every day 200,000 consultations are wasted on non-medical issues
- It comes as public satisfaction with GPs is at an all-time low
- An NHS boss said some people were calling 999 as many as 35 times a month
One in five GP appointments are made by people who are lonely or looking for advice on debt, relationships or housing, a health boss has revealed.
James Sanderson, director of community health at NHS England, said around 200,000 consultations a day are spent dealing with these non-medical issues rather than treating sick patients.
His comments came after the NHS Confederation’s Health Beyond the Hospital conference in London heard that public satisfaction with GPs is at an all-time low.
Mr Sanderson told the audience of health leaders: ‘If you look at general practice, at least 20 per cent of GP visits are for a non-medical need.
‘People visit the GP because of loneliness, are socially isolated or have problems with debts or relationships or housing. More than a million appointments per day in general practice. That’s a lot of people who are struggling with social problems.’
James Sanderson, director of community health at NHS England, said around 200,000 consultations a day are spent treating these non-medical problems rather than treating sick patients.
Another NHS leader told how many of these patients are also frequent 999 callers and described how they are being diverted to different parts of the overburdened health service.
Jonathan Hammond-Williams, head of complex care at South Western Ambulance Service, gave an example of patients calling up to 35 times a month.
He said: ‘Patients go around in what I call the ‘washing machine of referrals’. This includes the ambulance service, 111, primary care, community trusts and emergency care. The person is prescribed a lot of medication, but it doesn’t really touch on what essentially the problem is, which is often something that is social and personal to him or her.”
Health Minister Helen Whately drew on her own experience of being in hospital when she told the conference that emergency departments are full of elderly patients who should not be there.
She limped to the podium to deliver her speech after breaking her ankle in a “nasty” road accident earlier this month.
In a question and answer session afterwards, she said: ‘I also have several family members with different health problems at the moment, so I spend quite a bit of time in hospitals.
“I think one of the things I’ve seen through all of this is how difficult it is for emergency departments with so many actually vulnerable, older patients for whom it’s not necessarily the right place to be.”