- Adrian O’Dowd1,
- Ella Hubbard2
- 1Kent
- 2The BMJ
Discontent between the GP profession and the government is becoming more evident as sparks fly over how reforms of online consultations are being implemented.
New rules came into force on 1 October saying that all general practices in England must keep online consultation tools open from 8 am to 6 30 pm, Monday to Friday. The BMA warned that this could result in a surge of consultation requests with no additional workforce to deal with it, and as a result it has entered a formal dispute with the government.1
The issue has now flared up again after national media coverage of a letter from GPs in northeast England about how the new consultation rules should be implemented. The letter, reported on by the Times2 and seen by The BMJ, set out seven “pre-set messages” that general practices might want to use for patients seeking a consultation after they have been triaged through eConsult.
However, part of the letter has provoked anger, as it describes Pharmacy First as a scheme designed with the potential to undermine GPs and suggests that GPs …
