Half of public ‘delayed or avoided’ contacting their GP practice last year, survey finds

Nearly half of the public ‘delayed of avoided’ contacting their GP practice about a health concern last year, a new survey has found.

The latest polling from the Health Foundation and Ipsos, conducted in December last year, found that 48% delayed or avoided contacting their GP practice  in the previous 12 months.

The survey of 2,214 people also reveal that improving access to general practice remains top of the public’s list of priorities for the NHS, this time tied with improving access to A&E.

The majority of those who avoided making contact with their GP cited perceived challenges linked to access as the reason for this:

• 30% did not expect to be offered a suitable appointment;
• 17% thought it would be too difficult to contact the practice;
•  14% worried their request would not be taken seriously.

A quarter of people (27%) ‘decided to manage the issue themselves or wait for it to go away’, the survey found.

The polling suggested that access reforms in the NHS are ‘generally welcomed’ by the public, and found that:

• 66% support patients seeing other healthcare professionals such as a practice nurse or pharmacist, rather than a GP, where appropriate;  
• 55% prefer to use online options such as the NHS App or practice website to make an appointment.

RCGP chair Professor Victoria Tzortiou Brown, said it was ‘worrying’ to hear that some people might be delaying or avoiding seeking care because they think getting an appointment will be difficult.

But she added that the only way to improve access is with ‘investment and support’.  

She said: ‘GPs are working harder than ever, with over one million appointments delivered in general practice every day across England, and 46% on the same day as the booking. But we recognise that too many patients are still waiting too long for appointments or are anxious that they won’t be able to get the care they need when they need it.

‘This polling shows yet again that improving access to general practice remains top of the public’s list of priorities for the NHS, but the only way to address this is with investment and support. As care continues to shift from hospitals into the community, funding must follow the work.

‘This requires clear, fully costed plans to recruit and retain more GPs, expand capacity, and stabilise the workforce so that patients can feel confident they will receive timely, high-quality care.’

Health Foundation assistant director of policy Tim Gardner said: ‘These findings reflect the tough choices facing policymakers in turning around a struggling health service. The government has pledged to shift care from hospital to community, yet this will only happen with strong foundations in general practice which needs investment and reform.

‘Priorities include recruiting and retaining enough GPs, modernising general practice IT and buildings, and rapidly testing and evaluating new ways of delivering care – including balancing speed of access with continuity of care for patients who most need it.

‘Our findings signal that, too often, people are going without the care they need, which risks storing up health problems further down the line and placing more strain on an already stretched service.’

Latest NHS England data on GP appointments showed that 31.9 million appointments were recorded across general practice in December last year.

Last week a study found that Government policies aimed at improving access to general practice may lead to ‘lower patient confidence’.

And another study recently argued that policies on online GP access and the effort needed to keep systems working are taking staff away from work that would be ‘more effective’.