Can you really rely on a GP you only see on an app? Two doctors go head-to-head after the government announces plans for surgeries to offer video-call appointments

• Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock said he wants video consultations with GPs to happen all over England, it is now offered by some private services
  
  
• Margaret McCartney, a GP based in Glasgow, says it is not yet a safe option
  
  
• Mobasher Butt, GP and Medical director of Babylon who make the app says patients love it
  

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6177969/Doctors-head-head-government-announces-plans-GPs-offer-video-call-appointments.html

The for and against arguments are on the link.

What do others think?

A lot of us 'old uns don't have PC's .

In the last year the two times I have tried to make a dr's' appointment I have been fobbed off with a telephone consultation, which is frankly bloody useless.

Recently I have needed a medication review, it has taken 3 weeks to see a nurse for blood tests, and I now have to wait a furtherr 3 weeks to discuss the results with a dr.

A video appointment may cut the wait to see your GP.........but it's certainly not progress compared to a few years ago when a person could actually see their gp face to face within a day or so of needing to.

I'm not sure I understand how this is supposed to help, if its cutting time how will that work, or will the video consultation be less than the ten minutes now, when you sit in the doctor's office and speak face to face. Who is going to be on the other end your usual doctor 'seeing you exactly the same as face to face? If you have a bad foot or leg are you supposed to stand on a convenient stool to get your foot in view of the doctor? What about actual manipulation of the area to discover the possible problem. How do you test someone's heart, lungs without a stethoscope, until one can be fitted to the pc that is, not to mention reflexes and blood pressure. Medics can pick up things by your appearance, will this be possible on screen. What happens if someone is suffering from piles or other intimate problems, don't forget to close your curtains!

This app is not appropriate.   

Will the GP's ask to see our private bits on these 'webcams'? 

Rogue NHS managers might sell the clips to porn sites, as a desperate way of raising NHS funds. 

OK to get serious, I don't like the idea.

Human contact is crucial when attempting to diagnose an illness and prescribe treatment.

Cutting corners in this way, can seriously backfire. False economy!

What I don't understand is why they say missed appointments cost money, surely if the person is not there, they just move on to the next in line !