Matt Hancock has announced all future GP consultations in England should be done remotely over the phone or video unless there is a “compelling” clinical reason for in-person appointments.
The health secretary said in the four weeks leading up to 12 April – the initial days of the coronavirus lockdown – over 70 per cent of routine GP consultations were delivered remotely, and just 26 per cent face-to-face.
“In the same period a year ago, this was reversed, with 71 per cent face-to-face and 25 per cent remotely,” the cabinet minister said.
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Speaking at the Royal College of Physicians on the future of health care, Mr Hancock said health care staff should also be able to use secure messaging service such as WhatsApp to speak with both colleagues and patients “where the benefits outweigh the risks”.
“Of course there always has to be a system for people who can’t log on. But we should patronise older people by saying they don’t do tech,” he added.
1/50 29 July 2020
A member of staff stands on Ai Weiwei’s ‘History of Bombs’ during a photocall for the Chinese artist’s new work on display at the Imperial War Museum in London
PA
2/50 28 July 2020
Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite. It was a milestone wicket in his career, reaching his 500th Test Wicket for England. They went on to beat the West Indies in Manchester and therefore win the series 2-1
Getty/ECB
3/50 27 July 2020
Demonstrators protest outside the Tate Modern in London over proposed job losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. The group believe that the emergency money provided by the government to culture-based organisations should be used to retain all jobs and that any other use of the funding is unfair. The gallery on London’s South Bank, as well as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, reopened today after closing in March due to lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus
Getty
4/50 26 July 2020
Harry Maguire shakes hands with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers after Manchester United beat the Foxes. The win meant they finished third in the Premier League and Leicester finished outside a Champions League place in fourth
Pool via Reuters
5/50 25 July 2020
Women exercise using pool noodles during an aqua fit class at a gym in Sunbury-on-Thames after gyms and swimming pools were allowed to reopen
AFP via Getty
6/50 24 July 2020
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tries out a new Streetspace protected cycle lane in London at the launch a new online cycle training scheme
PA
7/50 23 July 2020
A customer has her hair cut outside at Blade Hairdressers in Soho in London
Getty
8/50 22 July 2020
Liverpool’s English midfielder Jordan Henderson lifts the Premier League trophy during the presentation following the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool. Liverpool on Wednesday lifted the Premier League trophy at the famous Kop stand at Anfield after their final home game of the season
AFP via Getty
9/50 21 July 2020
Vivienne Westwood demonstrates outside the Old Bailey in support of Julian Assange in London
Reuters
10/50 20 July 2020
Comet Neowise in the skies over the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire
PA
11/50 19 July 2020
Mods and rockers unite on Madeira Drive, Brighton, for a demonstration to call for the reopening of the road which Brighton & Hove City Council plans to keep closed permanently
PA
12/50 18 July 2020
People enjoy the sunny weather at Painshill, an 18th century landscape garden in Cobham, Surrey
PA
13/50 17 July 2020
Captain Sir Thomas Moore receives his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle
AP
14/50 16 July 2020
Red Arrows do a flypast during the Graduation Ceremony of the Queen’s Squadron at RAF College Cranwell, Lincolnshire
The Daily Telegraph/PA
15/50 15 July 2020
Jen Reid poses in front of a black resin and steel statue titled ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, which is based on her by Marc Quinn, where it has been installed on the vacant Edward Colston plinth in Bristol city centre. The original statue was pulled down and thrown into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests
PA
16/50 14 July 2020
Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
PA
17/50 13 July 2020
People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
18/50 12 July 2020
West Indies’s John Campbell and Jason Holder celebrate winning the test as England’s Rory Burns and teammates look on dejected
Reuters
19/50 11 July 2020
Chicldren play in the water during a cricket match between Abinger and Worplesdon & Nurpham in Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Reuters
20/50 10 July 2020
People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
21/50 9 July 2020
Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures
PA
22/50 8 July 2020
Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
23/50 7 July 2020
A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
24/50 6 July 2020
Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
25/50 5 July 2020
People visit Columbia Road Flower Market, London, as it reopens following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England
PA
26/50 4 July 2020
A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
AFP via Getty
27/50 3 July 2020
Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands prior to the League One play-off semi final match between Portsmouth and Oxford United at Fratton Park
PA
28/50 2 July 2020
A diver cleans the inside window of the seal tank at Tynemouth Aquarium in North Shields, as it prepares to open on Saturday after further coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted in England
PA
29/50 1 July 2020
Slackliner Sandor Nagy practices on the beach in Boscombe, on the south coast of England
AFP via Getty
30/50 30 June 2020
(left to right) Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill attending the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey in west Belfast
PA
31/50 29 June 2020
Former Team GB Rhythmic Gymnastic dancer Hannah Martin during a training session at Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex
Reuters
32/50 28 June 2020
People visit Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, that recently reopened following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restriction
PA
33/50 27 June 2020
A protest for Justice for Shukri Abdi on Trafalgar Square in London, following a raft of Black Lives Matter protests across the UK
PA
34/50 26 June 2020
Police at the scene of an incident at the Park Inn Hotel in central Glasgow. Scottish police said armed officers shot dead a man after a suspected stabbing in the city centre left six others injured, including one of their colleagues. Several roads were closed and the surrounding area was cordoned off
AFP via Getty
35/50 25 June 2020
A horse is washed down at Haydock Racecourse
PA
36/50 24 June 2020
People enjoy the hot weather on Margate beach
Reuters
37/50 23 June 2020
Tony Bennett the owner of The Devereux pub in Temple, London. Pub and hospitality bosses have cheered the Government’s proposals to allow customers through their doors again on July 4 as “a welcome relief”. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 23, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be able to reopen from July 4, with “one metre-plus” distancing measures in place
PA
38/50 22 June 2020
Police forensics officers carry out a search near Forbury Gardens, in Reading town centre, the scene of a multiple stabbing attack which took place at around 7pm on Saturday, leaving three people dead and another three seriously injured
PA
39/50 21 June 2020
Soccer Football – Premier League – Everton v Liverpool – Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain – June 21, 2020 Children play football outside the stadium before the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
Action Images via Reuters
40/50 20 June 2020
Arsenal’s midfielder Nicolas Pepe kneels before the Premier League match against Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium in southern England
AFP via Getty
41/50 19 June 2020
Bianca Walkden during a training session at the National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester
PA
42/50 18 June 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures about social distancing alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he arrives at Downing Street for a meeting. Macron also visited London to commemorate the 80th anniversary of former French president Charles de Gaulle’s appeal to French people to resist the Nazi occupation during World War II
AFP
43/50 17 June 2020
Players kneel, as well as, having ‘Black Lives Matter’ in place of names on their shirts prior to the start of the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United at Villa Park in Birmingham. The league resumed after its three-month suspension because of coronavirus
AP
44/50 16 June 2020
Motakhayyel ridden by Jim Crowley, right, wins the Buckingham Palace Handicap during day one of Royal Ascot. This year, the flat racing’s biggest meeting, is behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak
PA
45/50 15 June 2020
Queues form at Primark at the Rushden Lakes shopping complex after the government relaxed coronavirus lockdown laws significantly, allowing zoos, safari parks and non-essential shops to open to visitors
Getty
46/50 14 June 2020
A man kneels at a commemoration to mark the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire in London. The fire claimed 72 lives on 14 June 2017
PA
47/50 13 June 2020
Protesters confront police in Whitehall near Parliament Square, during a protest by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance
PA
48/50 12 June 2020
A Black Lives Matter supporter sings to crowds who marched with her in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square in London. The death of an African American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis police has sparked protests across the United States, as well as demonstrations of solidarity in many countries around the world
Getty
49/50 11 June 2020
Scouts show their support at the Lord Baden-Powell statue in Poole. The statue of Robert Baden-Powell on Poole Quay is to be placed in “safe storage” following concerns about his racial views
Getty
50/50 10 June 2020
Social distancing markers around the penguin enclosure at London Zoo. Staff have been preparing and are now ready for reopening next week with new signage, one-way trails for visitors to follow, and extra handwashing and sanitiser stations in place
PA
1/50 29 July 2020
A member of staff stands on Ai Weiwei’s ‘History of Bombs’ during a photocall for the Chinese artist’s new work on display at the Imperial War Museum in London
PA
2/50 28 July 2020
Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite. It was a milestone wicket in his career, reaching his 500th Test Wicket for England. They went on to beat the West Indies in Manchester and therefore win the series 2-1
Getty/ECB
3/50 27 July 2020
Demonstrators protest outside the Tate Modern in London over proposed job losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. The group believe that the emergency money provided by the government to culture-based organisations should be used to retain all jobs and that any other use of the funding is unfair. The gallery on London’s South Bank, as well as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, reopened today after closing in March due to lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus
Getty
4/50 26 July 2020
Harry Maguire shakes hands with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers after Manchester United beat the Foxes. The win meant they finished third in the Premier League and Leicester finished outside a Champions League place in fourth
Pool via Reuters
5/50 25 July 2020
Women exercise using pool noodles during an aqua fit class at a gym in Sunbury-on-Thames after gyms and swimming pools were allowed to reopen
AFP via Getty
6/50 24 July 2020
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tries out a new Streetspace protected cycle lane in London at the launch a new online cycle training scheme
PA
7/50 23 July 2020
A customer has her hair cut outside at Blade Hairdressers in Soho in London
Getty
8/50 22 July 2020
Liverpool’s English midfielder Jordan Henderson lifts the Premier League trophy during the presentation following the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool. Liverpool on Wednesday lifted the Premier League trophy at the famous Kop stand at Anfield after their final home game of the season
AFP via Getty
9/50 21 July 2020
Vivienne Westwood demonstrates outside the Old Bailey in support of Julian Assange in London
Reuters
10/50 20 July 2020
Comet Neowise in the skies over the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire
PA
11/50 19 July 2020
Mods and rockers unite on Madeira Drive, Brighton, for a demonstration to call for the reopening of the road which Brighton & Hove City Council plans to keep closed permanently
PA
12/50 18 July 2020
People enjoy the sunny weather at Painshill, an 18th century landscape garden in Cobham, Surrey
PA
13/50 17 July 2020
Captain Sir Thomas Moore receives his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle
AP
14/50 16 July 2020
Red Arrows do a flypast during the Graduation Ceremony of the Queen’s Squadron at RAF College Cranwell, Lincolnshire
The Daily Telegraph/PA
15/50 15 July 2020
Jen Reid poses in front of a black resin and steel statue titled ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, which is based on her by Marc Quinn, where it has been installed on the vacant Edward Colston plinth in Bristol city centre. The original statue was pulled down and thrown into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests
PA
16/50 14 July 2020
Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
PA
17/50 13 July 2020
People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
18/50 12 July 2020
West Indies’s John Campbell and Jason Holder celebrate winning the test as England’s Rory Burns and teammates look on dejected
Reuters
19/50 11 July 2020
Chicldren play in the water during a cricket match between Abinger and Worplesdon & Nurpham in Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Reuters
20/50 10 July 2020
People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
21/50 9 July 2020
Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures
PA
22/50 8 July 2020
Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
23/50 7 July 2020
A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
24/50 6 July 2020
Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
25/50 5 July 2020
People visit Columbia Road Flower Market, London, as it reopens following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England
PA
26/50 4 July 2020
A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
AFP via Getty
27/50 3 July 2020
Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands prior to the League One play-off semi final match between Portsmouth and Oxford United at Fratton Park
PA
28/50 2 July 2020
A diver cleans the inside window of the seal tank at Tynemouth Aquarium in North Shields, as it prepares to open on Saturday after further coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted in England
PA
29/50 1 July 2020
Slackliner Sandor Nagy practices on the beach in Boscombe, on the south coast of England
AFP via Getty
30/50 30 June 2020
(left to right) Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill attending the funeral of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey in west Belfast
PA
31/50 29 June 2020
Former Team GB Rhythmic Gymnastic dancer Hannah Martin during a training session at Ouse Valley Viaduct in Sussex
Reuters
32/50 28 June 2020
People visit Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, that recently reopened following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restriction
PA
33/50 27 June 2020
A protest for Justice for Shukri Abdi on Trafalgar Square in London, following a raft of Black Lives Matter protests across the UK
PA
34/50 26 June 2020
Police at the scene of an incident at the Park Inn Hotel in central Glasgow. Scottish police said armed officers shot dead a man after a suspected stabbing in the city centre left six others injured, including one of their colleagues. Several roads were closed and the surrounding area was cordoned off
AFP via Getty
35/50 25 June 2020
A horse is washed down at Haydock Racecourse
PA
36/50 24 June 2020
People enjoy the hot weather on Margate beach
Reuters
37/50 23 June 2020
Tony Bennett the owner of The Devereux pub in Temple, London. Pub and hospitality bosses have cheered the Government’s proposals to allow customers through their doors again on July 4 as “a welcome relief”. PA Photo. Picture date: Tuesday June 23, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that pubs, restaurants and cinemas will be able to reopen from July 4, with “one metre-plus” distancing measures in place
PA
38/50 22 June 2020
Police forensics officers carry out a search near Forbury Gardens, in Reading town centre, the scene of a multiple stabbing attack which took place at around 7pm on Saturday, leaving three people dead and another three seriously injured
PA
39/50 21 June 2020
Soccer Football – Premier League – Everton v Liverpool – Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain – June 21, 2020 Children play football outside the stadium before the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
Action Images via Reuters
40/50 20 June 2020
Arsenal’s midfielder Nicolas Pepe kneels before the Premier League match against Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium in southern England
AFP via Getty
41/50 19 June 2020
Bianca Walkden during a training session at the National Taekwondo Centre in Manchester
PA
42/50 18 June 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures about social distancing alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he arrives at Downing Street for a meeting. Macron also visited London to commemorate the 80th anniversary of former French president Charles de Gaulle’s appeal to French people to resist the Nazi occupation during World War II
AFP
43/50 17 June 2020
Players kneel, as well as, having ‘Black Lives Matter’ in place of names on their shirts prior to the start of the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Sheffield United at Villa Park in Birmingham. The league resumed after its three-month suspension because of coronavirus
AP
44/50 16 June 2020
Motakhayyel ridden by Jim Crowley, right, wins the Buckingham Palace Handicap during day one of Royal Ascot. This year, the flat racing’s biggest meeting, is behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak
PA
45/50 15 June 2020
Queues form at Primark at the Rushden Lakes shopping complex after the government relaxed coronavirus lockdown laws significantly, allowing zoos, safari parks and non-essential shops to open to visitors
Getty
46/50 14 June 2020
A man kneels at a commemoration to mark the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire in London. The fire claimed 72 lives on 14 June 2017
PA
47/50 13 June 2020
Protesters confront police in Whitehall near Parliament Square, during a protest by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance
PA
48/50 12 June 2020
A Black Lives Matter supporter sings to crowds who marched with her in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square in London. The death of an African American man, George Floyd, while in the custody of Minneapolis police has sparked protests across the United States, as well as demonstrations of solidarity in many countries around the world
Getty
49/50 11 June 2020
Scouts show their support at the Lord Baden-Powell statue in Poole. The statue of Robert Baden-Powell on Poole Quay is to be placed in “safe storage” following concerns about his racial views
Getty
50/50 10 June 2020
Social distancing markers around the penguin enclosure at London Zoo. Staff have been preparing and are now ready for reopening next week with new signage, one-way trails for visitors to follow, and extra handwashing and sanitiser stations in place
PA
“The feedback from this transformation has been hugely positive. And especially valued by doctors in rural areas, who saw how it could save long travel times for doctors and patients.”
Confirming the considerable switch to remote appointments would not be a temporary measure for the Covid-19 crisis, Mr Hancock continued: “So from now on, all consultations should be teleconsulations unless there’s a compelling clinical reason not to. Of course, if there’s an emergency, the NHS will be ready and waiting to see you in person – just as it always has been.
“But if they are able to, patients should get in contact first – via the web or by calling in advance. That way, care is easier to manage and the NHS can deliver a much better service.”
Speaking on Thursday, the health secretary also vowed to “bust bureaucracy” in the NHS, adding: “Barnacle-like encrustation of rules and regulations as been disempowering to many brilliant, highly-motivated frontline staff who just want to get on with caring for patients.
“For example, we made clear that it’s fine to use secure messaging services like WhatsApp to share information with colleagues or patients where the benefits outweigh the risks.”
Edel Harris, chief executive of the learning disability charity Mencap, said: “Technology is wonderful, but not everyone can access it.
“The secretary of state’s announcement that all consultations should be teleconsultations, unless there is a compelling reason not to, could seriously exacerbate the health inequalities that already exist for people with a learning disability.
“The UK’s 1.5 million people with a learning disability should be offered face-to-face consultations automatically – without needing to ask for them. This is a reasonable adjustment and we will be asking NHS England to ensure this happens – starting with annual health checks.”
