A major study revealed that only 3 percent of doctors think remote consultations work better for patients than face–to-face visits.

Cambridge University researchers concluded that many patients are being affected by the shift towards video and phone consultations.

Online consultations were deemed to increase the risk of misdiagnosis or barriers to care, and are especially harmful for the elderly and poor.

93% of doctors agreed that remote visits are better than face to face appointments for diagnosing and accurately assessing illness.

In the first study of its kind, experts evaluated the NHS’s ‘rapid move towards telemedicine’ — video or phone appointments — during the pandemic.

Researchers conducted a survey of 1,340 patients with rheumatology and more than 100 consultations with GPs and hospitals between April and July.

One third of patients had inflammatory arthritis, while another third had immune disease Lupus. Many needed regular appointments to check for flare-ups.

Telemedicine is viewed by 93% of doctors as less accurate than face to face consultations.

According to the study, a lack in-person examinations or tests led to’misdiagnosis as well as inaccuracies being frequently reported’.

Nine out of ten doctors also stated that video and phone consultations are less effective than face-to-face meetings for building trusting relationships. Only three percent said they were better overall.

Researchers surveyed 1,340 rheumatology patients and more than 100 hospital consultations and GPs between April and July this year. The graph shows their views on how virtual appointments compare to in-person on relationship building and appointment anxiety. Nine in 10 clinicians and 69 per cent of patients felt telemedicine was worse than face-to-face for building a trusting relationship

Researchers surveyed 1,340 patients with rheumatology and more than 100 GPs and hospital consultations between April-July this year. The graph shows the patients’ views on how virtual appointments compare to in person on appointment anxiety and relationship building. Telemedicine was perceived as less effective than face-to–face communication for building trust and relationships by 9/10 clinicians and 69% of patients.

The researchers also asked patients and doctors about how virtual appointments impacted the accuracy of diagnoses and symptom-reporting. Some 93 per cent of doctors said telemedicine was worse than face-to-face consultations for accuracy

Researchers also asked patients and doctors how telemedicine affected the accuracy of diagnosis and symptom reporting. 93% of doctors said that telemedicine was more accurate than face to face consultations.

Over 60 per cent of patients and clinicians considered telemedicine more convenient than face-to-face

More than 60% of patients and physicians viewed telemedicine as more convenient than face–to-face.

The number of GP appointments taking place face-to-face tumbled at the start of the pandemic when surgeries were told to see patients remotely where possible. But despite the country largely returning to normal, in-person visits are yet to climb back to pre-pandemic levels. The above graph shows the number of face-to-face GP appointments (red line) by month since the end of 2019

When the pandemic began, the number of GP appointments that took place face-to–face dropped. This was because doctors were instructed to see patients remotely. Despite the country returning to normal, in person visits have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The graph below shows the monthly change in face-to–face GP appointments (red lines) since the end 2019.

Patients who have to wait ONE HOUR to reach their GP by phone 

According to a snapshot survey done by the Daily Mail, patients who call their GP surgeries to make an appointment for a consultation can expect to wait up to one hour.

Some were cut off after waiting for over ten minutes.

However, six of the ten practices that were surveyed answered the questionnaire in less than five minutes. This is a stark example of the postcode lottery that patients face across the country.

Patients are finding it difficult to get a phone call to their surgery after the demand for appointments has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

When they do manage to get through, they will often be offered a telephone consultation rather than a facetoface appointment.

The Daily Mail carried out a survey of 60 randomly chosen urban and rural surgeries across England. It found that almost one fifth of callers waited more than 15 minutes.

The average wait time in England was 8 minutes and 3 minutes, but 19% of surgeries left patients waiting for more than 15 minutes.

The longest wait time at a Kent surgery was one hour and 19 minutes.

It took 45 minutes to reach a Newcastle upon Tyne medical centre. The wait at a Lancaster clinic was 39 minutes.

Positive news is that six of ten practices were answered in less than five minutes.

All calls were made after 9am – after the rush of patients seeking urgent appointments – and before 3pm.

Many practices record messages to callers waiting in line, asking them to hang up and go to their website or call 111 to get urgent medical advice.

Campaigners argue that disabled or elderly patients are more likely not to have access to technology. 

Many patients felt that online appointments were a ‘rushed tick list’ and ‘perfunctory’. However 60% of them said they were more convenient.

The study revealed that shifting towards so-called “zoom medicines” risks ‘worsening existing healthcare inequalities’.

It was especially harmful and unfair to the elderly, disabled, and those who don’t know English.

The Daily Mail is urging for face-toface appointments to be returned as default.

Currently, just 61% of GP visits are in-person. This is down from 80% before the pandemic.

Today’s report shows the stark concern of many doctors over the pressure to shift to remote appointments. After NHS chiefs said that one in four appointments should have been by phone or video, today’s report highlights these concerns.

It stated that doctors had raised concerns about telemedicine being over-used in the NHS and hospital management to save time and money, rather than being in patients’ best interests.

One senior doctor said that telemedicine is a good option for some but not for all.

Melanie Sloan from the University of Cambridge Primary Care Unit said that Melanie Sloan was the lead author. She stated: “The pandemic has had an enormous impact on the ability of health professionals to see patients face to face, and this has resulted to a significant increase of telemedicine consultations.

“As the NHS develops its telemedicine strategy, it hopes there will be an in-depth assessment of the psychological and clinical risk and steps taken to mitigate them, as well as actions to address existing health inequalities for those who are less likely to be able benefit from remote consultations. 

Professor Caroline Gordon from the University of Birmingham was co-author. She said: “Some stable rheumatic diseases patients can benefit from Telemedicine, but new patients, such as those with worsening symptoms, or more complex conditions like Lupus, need quick accessible, face to face appointments to manage their conditions.

Dr Felix Naughton, a senior author at the University of East Anglia, said that the greatest concern was the variability in access to care.

“Approximately half of all patients felt that they would not get a prompt response when they were very sick.”

The study, published in Rheumatology journal, found that many patients had difficulty accessing support, including difficulties getting through to their GP.

Overall, both patients and doctors preferred in-person appointments, but most participants supported a mixture of face-to-face and telemedicine. And significantly higher proportion of clinicians (70 per cent) than patients (46 per cent) wanted all emergency appointments to be face-to-face

Patients and doctors preferred in person appointments. However, most participants were open to telemedicine and face-to-face visits. A significantly higher percentage of patients (46%) and clinicians (70%) preferred face-to-face emergency appointments.

When asked about their preferred method of virtual appointment, both patients and doctors said they would rather have a telephone appointment than a video call, while around a 20 per cent of patients and doctors did not have a preference. Some 10 per cent of medics did not want any virtual appointments, while a quarter of patients wanted all consultations to be in-person

Patients and doctors were asked which method they preferred for a virtual appointment. Around 20% of patients and doctors disagreed. A quarter of patients requested that all consultations be in-person, while 10% of medics said no to virtual appointments.

One patient stated that she was waiting for a call back after receiving four voicemails. She felt sad and scared because she didn’t know anyone who could help her when she really needed it. 

Another said: ‘My rheumatologist cannot see or hear how I move, look at my skin, eyes, hair, hands, bones, how I am…I was diagnosed with something over the phone, which I know isn’t right, and it’s getting worse.’ 

The Daily Mail highlighted the devastating effects of the shift away form face-to-face GP appointments for patients.

Last month, the Government and the NHS chiefs presented a nine-point package to address the problem.

The £250 million plan would mean doctors cannot deny a face-to-face appointment unless there is a good clinical reason, and name and shame surgeries which don’t deliver them.

However, the British Medical Association has asked GPs to reject the plan and is voting members over industrial action in an effort to reduce their ‘unmanageable workload.

  • Do you or a loved have struggled to get a face to face GP appointment? Email your story to doctors@dailymail.co.uk