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MORE than one third of patients at GP surgeries are seen by nurses rather than doctors, new figures show.
The number of home visits has fallen and consultations carried out on the telephone have trebled.
The figures, published today by the NHS Information Centre, highlight the changes that have taken place at surgeries between 1995 and last year.
Experts denied that it had become more difficult for patients to see their doctor.
They said nurses were looking after people with long-term conditions, freeing up GPs for other patients.
The figures show people are visiting their doctor's surgery more often — from an average of 3.9 times a year in 1995, to 5.5 times a year in 2008.
The percentage of consultations carried out over the phone rose from three per cent to 12 per cent; the proportion carried out on home visits fell from nine per cent to four per cent; and the percentage carried out by nurses rose from 21 per cent to 34 per cent.
Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GP committee, said: “There has been a planned increase in consultations carried out by nurses.
“GP surgeries are employing more and more nurses to carry out routine and chronic care tasks. They can run asthma, diabetes and blood pressure clinics. These are nurses that have been trained to a higher standard.
“It doesn't mean dumbing down. Where there is a planned package of care they can deliver it just as well as GPs can.”
He said nurses will refer any patients with problems straight to a GP.
Dr Buckman said the rise in phone consultations means it is easier for patients to get hold of their doctor.
He added: “Patients may phone when they have a chronic condition and want more medication, or when they are worried about something they just need to talk about that may not be strictly medical.
“People who are working can call from their office to speak to me.”
Dr Buckman added that doctors still carry out home visits, but patients are less likely to request them.
“There has been a general reduction in home visits because more people own cars and there has been a recognition that it takes a doctor four times as long to carry out a home visit,” he said.
“People no longer believe they have to stay in the house if they have a temperature or if they are elderly, so there has been a drop in the number of people who ask for home visits.”
Latvian health chiefs have blamed the NHS for an exodus of doctors from the Baltic state.
They claim recruitment companies supplying the British health service were “buying up our doctors in bulk” to plug gaps in out-of-hours care.
The move was “ripping the heart” out of a small country in the midst of one of the deepest economic crises in Europe.
Peteris Apinis, president of the Latvian Medical Society, said staff were being offered salaries five times better than they could get at home.
Reader views (3)
As well as the increase in nurse consultation rate, there has been increase in GP (doctor) consultation rate from 3 consultations/patient/year to 3.4/patient/year, an increase of 14%. As was pointed out in the article, the nurses are generally carrying out clinics for the management of chronic diseases and will refer to the doctor as and when necessary.
- Smcc, Scotland
It's called triage. Not everyone NEEDS to be seen by a doctor.
- Rogan, Irving
Surely this is reasonable. Once a doctor has diagnosed a patients condition, a qualified nurse is quite capable of handling any ongoing treatment.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
