Limit appointments to ensure safe working, GPs advised

GPs should extend the length of their appointments to 15 minutes, a move which would likely mean reducing the total number of appointments they offer, the BMA General Practitioners Committee for England (GPCE) has advised.1

In updated “safe working” guidance published on 6 September GPCE acknowledged that a reduction in appointments would mean non-urgent patients may have to wait longer to be seen. But it said GPs must focus on “delivering safe, high quality care” while making sure their workloads are manageable, noting that GP practices are currently seeing “nearly half the country’s …