4 2GM Tuesday December 21 2021 | the times
News
Forty per cent of GP appointments are
taken by 10 per cent of their practice’s
patients, research has found.
The study, published in the journal
BMJ Open, looked at “frequent attend-
ers” and their impact on doctors’ work-
loads. By analysing almost 1.7 billion
consultations over two decades,
researchers at Manchester University
found that this group visited their
doctor five times as often as other
patients on a practice’s list.
Professor Evan Kontopantelis, the
study’s co-author, said: “This is the first
study to show that frequent attenders,
the top 10 per cent of consulters, have
largely and progressively contributed
to increased workload in general
practices over the last 20 years.”
In 2001 frequent attenders account-
ed for 36 per cent of in-person consulta-
tions at surgeries. By 2019, the latest
Just 10% of patients account for
40% of appointments with GPs
year covered, it was 40 per cent. The
study used anonymised data from 845
practices and 12.3 million patients,
between April 2000 and March 2019.
At the start of that period frequent
attenders saw their doctor 13 times a
year on average, rising to 21 times at the
end. When consultations with all types
of practice staff were included, they
went from 27 per year to 60.
For all patients, the averages went
from five to eight a year for GP
consultations and from 11 to 25 for all
practice staff.
The study found that GPs were
carrying out more consultations over
the telephone and online but face-to-
face appointments for frequent attend-
ers continued to increase.
Aneez Esmail, a professor at Man-
chester University, another co-author,
said: “Our findings show that frequent
attenders account for an increasing
proportion of face-to-face consulta-tions with GPs and are responsible for
nearly 40 per cent of consultations
fairly constantly over time.”
Maria Panagioti, a fellow co-author,
said that the findings could suggest a
need for more multidisciplinary staff.
She said: “The large increase in the
general practice workload over the last
20 years means having extended multi-
disciplinary teams is necessary to meet
a wide range of patient needs.”
Kontopantelis said: “The increasing
demand for consultations from fre-
quent attenders needs to be evaluated
in the context of the pandemic.
Frequent attenders may have special
health and social care needs but for a
variety of reasons we do not yet fully
understand how best to meet them.”
Professor Martin Marshall, chair-
man of the Royal College of GPs, said
doctors were seeing an increasing
number of patients with multiple long-
term conditions who often requiredgeneral practice care and services more
frequently. “This is increasing the com-
plexity of the workload,” he said.
“GPs know and understand their
patients. We’re able to deliver the care
our patients with complex health con-
ditions need because of the relation-
ships we’ve built with them over time.
“This is why it’s so important that
we’re able to maintain continuity of
care in general practice for those who
need it. But this involves being able to
spend more time with patients — and
whilst demand for appointments is
high, and staffing pressures in general
practice prevail, being able to offer
longer appointments... means being
able to offer fewer overall.
“GPs and our teams are working
under intense pressures. These existed
before the pandemic but the crisis has
only exacerbated them. We urgently
need the government to make good on
its promise of 6,000 more GPs.”Kat Lay Health Editor
More migrants crossed the Channel on
Sunday than in all of December last
year. British authorities rescued 274
people in 11 boats despite thick fog
hampering visibility in the 21-mile
Dover Strait. In December 2020 there
were 211 arrivals in 16 boats.
Border Force has detained 1,
migrants in 44 boats so far this month,
taking the total for the year to 27,938.
The crossings have continued de-
spite the deaths of 27 migrants last
than three years old, as his mother
carried his shoes. Their partially de-
flated boat, filled with lifejackets and
foil blankets, was left in the harbour.
In Dungeness, also in Kent, 34
migrants appeared bitterly cold as they
were brought to shore on a RNLI life-
boat at about 11am. Some were not
wearing shoes, had cut and bandaged
hands and struggled to get on to an
awaiting coach because of cramp.
Off the French coast, 24 migrants
were rescued from the water. The
French also intercepted and preventedat least 178 migrants from reaching the
UK in six boats on Sunday.
There were no crossings on Saturday
nor yesterday. There were 358 arrivals
on Friday and 459 on Thursday.
Dan O’Mahoney, head of the govern-
ment’s small boats task force, said:
“Unbelievably, these gangs continue
their deadly trade, shamelessly putting
lives at risk. The government’s new plan
for immigration will be firm on those
coming here via illegal routes and fair
for those using safe and legal routes.
This will reduce the pull factors.”Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
Tricycle made for two An 1887 Humber Rudge Tandem Traveller, known as the courting bicycle, is on show at the Brooklands motor museum in Weybridge, Surrey
Robbery charge
A suspect has been charged with
a robbery in which the Olympic
cyclist Mark Cavendish was
assaulted and his family
threatened at knifepoint. Four
intruders allegedly raided their
home in Ongar, Essex, on
November 27. Romario Henry, 30,
of Lewisham, southeast London,
was due to appear at Colchester
magistrates’ court.Panto MA? Oh yes it is
Staffordshire University is to offer
a one-year master’s degree in
contemporary pantomime
practice. Students will research
the genre and perform an original
show for local people. The actor
Christopher Biggins, who has
been in pantos for 50 years, said:
“We should all be preserving
traditions, celebrating specialised
training and Britain’s heritage.”Gold reserve wrangle
Supreme Court judges ruled that
the government gave “clear and
unequivocal” recognition of Juan
Guaidó as Venezuela’s president
in wrangling over £2 billion in
gold reserves held at the Bank of
England. President Maduro’s
central bank board and Guaidó’s
are making rival claims to the
gold. The case will now return to
a commercial court in London.ABCDDEEE
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Solutions MindGames in Times
Cryptic clues every day onlineRUSSELL SACHNearly 30,000 small boat migrants cross Channel this year
month — including seven women, a
teenager and a seven-year-old girl —
when their boat sank in the Channel.
The Border Force cutter Speedwell
brought in Sunday’s first group at about
8.30am, consisting of eight men draped
in red blankets for warmth. Their large
black dinghy was towed in as they were
escorted up the gangway at Dover
Marina for processing.
Young children were on Border
Force’s catamaran Hurricane when it
docked at about 10am. A father was
seen carrying a barefoot boy, no moreStudent goes missing
A music student at York
University has gone missing after
a night out in London. Harvey
Parker, 20, from Lambeth, south
London, was last seen on Friday
after leaving Heaven nightclub at
Charing Cross. A police
spokesman appealed for
information and added: “Both his
family and police are extremely
worried by his disappearance.”TV complaints record
Piers Morgan’s rant about the
Duchess of Sussex on Good
Morning Britain in March helped
to push television complaints to a
record high this year. Ofcom has
received 152,718 complaints so far,
up from about 68,000 last year. It
does not handle complaints about
the BBC. There were 54,
objections after Morgan accused
the duchess of lying when she
said she had felt suicidal. There
were 6,486 complaints about
the Oprah Winfrey interview
that so incensed him.