More than 50 per cent of Derbyshire GP appointments face-to-face

Statistics show 59.24 per cent of appointments were in person at Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) surgeries.

A total of 36.58 per cent of appointments were remote, with Derbyshire placed 51st out of 104 CCGs across the country for the per centage of in-person visits.

GP surgeries across Derbyshire are facing unprecedented demand as we come out of the pandemic – and doctors in Chesterfield said they have never been busier.

Dr Peter-John Flann, of Avenue House Surgery, Chesterfield, said recently: “Demand is extremely high for a number of reasons.

“We’re coming out of Covid so understandably a lot of patients have held on to things or built up things over quite a long period of time. A lot of these patients now need to be seen or need to have contact with their GP.”

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Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Today's figures show that it’s a misconception that GPs and other members of our team aren’t seeing patients face-to-face.

"Huge numbers of GP appointments are being made every day, almost half on the same day they are booked.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “Every GP practice must provide face-to-face as well as telephone and online appointments as part of making primary care as accessible as possible for patients - the latest figures show that around 24 million appointments were delivered in August alone, above pre-pandemic levels, with more than half delivered in person.”