Currently doing about 60:40 telephone:FTF appointments. Maybe 15% of telephone appointments subsequently convert to a FTF one so overall the balance is close to 50:50.
I suspect the 'new normal' will be ~40% phone, 60% FTF once the dust settles. Much of what I do doesn't need any FTF component, and many patients find telephone calls useful (especially working patients).
Do I like telephone appointments? Not particularly.
However, I have spent the past 20 years ensuring my practice has a good supply of very good doctors to ensure a satisfying workload balance for us, and delivery of a high standard of patient care, rather than chasing a monster income (8 partners working approx. 6 WTE for over 8000 patients, plus ancillary staff)
Many patients do have good reason to be peeved at the service they receive elsewhere (or don't receive) from their surgeries. In some cases a longstanding failure of practices to recruit is a significant factor.
Practice income (and thus partner earnings) has nothing to do with the number of doctors working in the practice.
If my practice had, say 4 WTE GPs it would still bring in the same total amount of money with a much bigger chunk to each partner - would it provide as good a service? Of course not. Would the partners each be working 50% harder - nope.
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