GP's Tight For Time

How GP's operate is very important when it comes to private medical insurance. The GP is the first port of call if you want to be referred privately and what the GP says will be taken on face value by the health insurance company. Worrying evidence shows that GP's are so hard-pressed for time that sometimes they are failing to even make eye contact with their patients.

A poll of 600 GP's conducted by Pulse, a GP magazine, found that many GPs thought that consultations should be longer despite the fact that 55% of them said that consultation length has increased in the last few years. 60% thought that the average consultation should increase to 14 minutes from 11 and and 60% said that consultations should be between 10 and 15 minutes. 35% said they should be over 15 minutes long.

Four out of ten doctors who responded to their questionnaire said that there was so much admin to do during a consultation that they could not look at patients whilst they were talking to them. This happened because of the large amounts of administration that they have to complete in order to meet government standards and satisfy the trusts.

One solution offered to the problem is for GP's to become part of larger teams with other health professionals being trained in performing routine tasks. Professor Field says:

‘GPs will have to have longer consultations. We will be looking at 15 to 20 minute consultations and a lot of the volume of minor illnesses will be done by physician’s assistants working in a rules-based way and nurses.

‘GPs will need to be brave and work in larger, federated healthcare teams to take on this challenge.’

Dr Grant Ingrams, chair of GPC West Midlands suggests more delegation within healthcare practices:

'Sit down with your colleagues and decide the best way to do it. Discuss this with the other staff, even the receptionists - do they need to be doing all the things they are doing, and could they be doing other things instead?’

The implications of the poll are that GP's do not have enough time with their patients and this is worrying.