In September 2020, the 成人快手 Shared Data Unit reported how the number of GP appointments had reduced post-lockdown, with concerns from charities that some elderly people felt their GP was not "open for business".
It followed a warning that week from the NHS that doctors should make sure face-to-face appointments were available where medically needed, or face fines.
The Royal College of GPs said those in the profession had been left "bemused" and "angry" from the NHS England letter, however, as previous guidance had been to limit in-person contact with patients.
There were concerns over patients 'coughing and spluttering' in waiting rooms.
We found that in no CCG area in England were GPs offering the same percentage of face-to-face appointments as pre-lockdown. Nationally, there were 21.7m face-to-face appointments in January 2020 but that fell to 11.2m in July 2020.
Methodology
We used data from and collated them in R. Graphics were made by the 成人快手 England Data Unit for 成人快手 news online. The script to combine data and output the shared sheet is here:
Data and story pack
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Partner usage
The Shared Data Unit makes data available to the wider news industry as part of the 成人快手 Local News Partnerships. Stories generated by partners using this data are still being recorded.
- The Cumberland News & Star: 18 September 2020
- Rochdale Online: 24 September 2020
- Isle of Wight Observer: 21 September 2020
- Wigan Today: 23 September 2020