Want to see a real GP and make a face-to-face appointment? You only have a quarter chance –

Only a quarter of GP appointments in the UK can be made face-to-face and with a real Doctor MailOnline.

Critics have warned that family medicine practice has descended on a “slippery slope”, where nurses and other staff bear the burden amid a severe staff shortage.

An NHS source told MailOnline that of the 27.5 million medical examinations performed across England in May, only 27% were done both face-to-face and with a qualified doctor.

This figure is not routinely disclosed, but publicly available data show that 64% of total GP appointments are face-to-face, and about half are with a real family doctor. The rest was a mix of virtual or phone calls and appointments led by nurses, physical therapists, and even acupuncturists.

Health Minister Sajid Javid has asked family doctors to hold more face-to-face meetings after stockpiles physically collapsed during the pandemic. Activists say remote consultations increase doctors’ risk of losing signs of a serious illness.

Despite government pressure to return to normal, the country’s top GP said yesterday that the current level of in-person dating is “probably justified”. Professor Martin Marshall, head of the Royal College of GPs, said at a conference in London that a return to pre-pandemic levels above 80% “doesn’t make sense for patients”.

The latest monthly family doctor appointment data released by NHS Digital shows 27.5 million appointments last month.

This included approximately 1.2 million people listed as “not available”.

Half of the appointments – 13.8 million – were with GPs and 12.8 million (46.6%) were with nurses or other staff, including, in some cases, acupuncturists, podiatrists, and even counselors.

The type of health personnel is not registered for 878,374 appointments.

Registered nurses have the same powers as primary care physicians to examine and diagnose patients, as well as provide treatments, prescriptions and referrals.

Meanwhile, 17.6 million of the total consultations took place face-to-face (64.1%).

The figure is the second highest since the start of the pandemic in spring 2020.

But when eight out of ten appointments are made in person, it’s still far below pre-pandemic levels.

A third of appointments in May were phone calls, while 0.5% were made via video or online.

Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, a campaign group for seniors, told MailOnline that the figure highlights the double wounds that harm patients.

While the lack of in-person appointments dominated the headlines, he said the lack of appointments with qualified family physicians was also a big problem.

Mr Reed warned GPs are now the last point of contact, not the first, and warned that the NHS is heading down a “slippery slope”.

Reed said the trend is “caused by a shortage of primary care doctors” and has become “necessary in many practices” to contain demand.

He added that the government has been “totally silent” on the issue, knowing that the number of general practitioners is “the root of the problem”.

But Professor Marshall, head of the Royal College of GP, told MailOnline: “Family doctors are holding more consultations each month than before the pandemic.”

Patients should be able to access GP care “in a variety of ways depending on their health needs and preferences”, while many people prefer face-to-face appointments, while also finding remote consultations “appropriate and effective.” “We know that good, safe and appropriate care can be provided remotely,” Professor Marshall added.

He said that family medicine practice is a “team service” and that family doctors are not always the most appropriate staff to meet a patient’s needs.

“Working in multidisciplinary teams also frees up GP time to see patients who need our medical expertise, such as patients with multiple and complex health conditions,” Professor Marshall added.

Ministers had promised to recruit 6,000 new primary care physicians by 2024, but have since accepted the risk of failure, breaking the promise of an important manifesto.

Surveys show that one in six GP positions are vacant, and up to half of GPs plan to retire within the next five years.

Professor Marshall said yesterday at the annual conference of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in London that only two-thirds of personal appointments will likely be the new normal.

The head of the RCGP said: “The one-on-one fight against the remote was very frustrating, it must be said. We saw it in one pass.

“Before the pandemic, about 80% of consultations were face-to-face. At the peak of the first wave it dropped to 10 percent and is now pretty stable at 64 percent again.

“A larger percentage of face-to-face meetings are conducted by primary care team members other than doctors, nurses who openly perform examinations, procedures, or whatever.

But if you look at the country as a whole, I think 64 percent are probably right.

“We learned from the pandemic that we can do more than we thought possible for the convenience of remote patients in general practice.

“So the idea that we should go back to 80 percent of face-to-face consultations doesn’t make sense to patients.”

Professor Marshall said family doctors have improved over the past two and a half years in deciding when face-to-face appointments are necessary and when they are not, and patients are “used to”.

“So we did a learning exercise and it seems to me that we are stable now,” he added.

It comes after the NHS eco chief said that fewer in-person medical appointments this month is a good thing as it reduces traffic pollution.

Record-breaking wait times in the ED are partly attributed to desperate patients who come to the ED because they can’t get an appointment with their primary care physician.

It comes after the Health Foundation warned that the family doctor crisis will go “significantly” over the next 10 years, with thousands of people expected to leave or cut their working hours.

The think tank estimates that primary care shortages could reach 10,700 full-time equivalents by 2031, based on current trends, compared to the number needed to meet growing healthcare needs.

A separate survey earlier this year found that patient satisfaction with their medical practices, fueled by the dating crisis, has fallen to an all-time low.

In some parts of the country, a quarter of consultations take five minutes or less.

Doctors say that making too many appointments increases the risk of missing a disease and prescribing the wrong medication.

To make it easier for millions of patients to visit, GPs have been instructed to hold evening consultations on weekdays and weekends, beginning in October.

But primary care doctors, who earn an average of £100,000 a year, have threatened to take union action over the NHS contract, as they feel overwhelmed and fear the move will weaken them further.

In total, there are currently approximately 1,700 fewer full-time equivalent GPs compared to 2015.

Many retire at age 50, move abroad or enter the private sector due to increased demand and paperwork.

Notably, disagreement over the current level of personal appointment was also cited as a factor in the GPs suspension.