As in other parts of the economy (retail, office, schools etc) we should have learned something from the Covid experience.
GPs and patients now know zoom and telephone can be made to work some of the time.
For some getting to and from a surgery is difficult. For others the need may be a quick routine fix reliably solved over the phone. Fixing the problem without leaping in the car is "green" Default to a F2F (doctor or nurse) may be the outcome.
Parts of the NHS react to changes in another. If folk can't get a GP appointment they may go to A&E where a wait (possibly a few hours) guarantees attention. There are similar stresses related to social care/hospitals.
Lessons learned must be embedded in future actions. A simplistic analogy - reverting to the past would be like to going back to the horse and cart because of the fuel delivery problems.
|
