Irwin Mitchell Speaks Out After Study Into Success Of Remote Appointments Published

Medical negligence lawyers have urged doctors to carry out more face-to-face appointments with patients amid concerns online consultations have ‘limited’ success in diagnosing illnesses.

Lawyers at Irwin Mitchell’s Bristol office have raised concerns that patients with complex medical needs could be at increased risk because of the difficulty of diagnosing some problems online.

It comes after research carried out by the University of Bristol evaluated eConsult, an online portal that allows patients to submit symptoms to a GP electronically. The scheme was piloted at 36 GP surgeries across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

The research, which was funded by National Institute for Health Research, discovered that 38 per cent of online consultations led to a GP seeing a patient in person, while a further 32 per cent were followed up by a phone consultation.

Julie Lewis is regional managing partner at Irwin Mitchell.

Expert Opinion

Whilst we acknowledge that online consultations may ease pressures upon GPs, we are concerned about the risks in complex cases or cases where patients present with non-specific symptoms which may be easily dismissed in the absence of the patient having a face-to-face consultation.

“We have sadly seen on a number of occasions that patients’ symptoms can be dismissed as insignificant and it is not until a patient is physically examined and the symptom is looked at in the broader context, or the patient requests further investigation, that a diagnosis is made.

“We are concerned that online consultations will be too narrow and won’t allow the GP to consider the patient’s overall presentation and will make it more difficult for a patient to feel that their concerns are being listened to.” Julie Lewis - Partner