Nearly four in ten GP surgeries set limits on the number of patients they will deal with each day, survey finds – as the BMA calls for doctors to only see 25 people a day and ‘redirect’ those who miss out to other services such as 111

Nearly four in ten GP offices set a limit on the number of patients they will see each day.

The British Medical Association recommends that GPs see up to 25 patients a day, a limit NHS officials recently described as “arbitrary”.

But a survey found that 40 percent of medical partners have a daily limit on the number of patients they will see, before redirecting them to other services.

The survey, from the medical magazine Pulse, asked GPs if their surgery has a daily limit on the number of patient contacts.

These ‘contacts’ are believed to include all patient appointments, whether in person or remotely.

Activists have criticized the cap. Dennis Reed, whose group Silver Voices campaigns for the elderly, said: “To be told they can’t get an appointment because of a limit on patient contacts is frustrating and demoralizing.”

However, they could also include any direct communication between a GP and a patient.

Activists have criticized the limit, calling the findings “frustrating”.

Dennis Reed, whose group Silver Voices campaigns for the elderly, said: “Many people who want to speak to a GP have already spent a few days suffering before seeking help.

“Being told they can’t get an appointment because of a cap on patient contact is frustrating and demoralizing.

“There is no reason why we should not strive to return to the same level of citations as before the pandemic.”

However, several medical partners said they had to limit the number of patients for safety.

An associate doctor in north-east London, whose practice has a daily limit of 25 patients per doctor, said: “What we have to emphasize is that it’s not about laziness, it’s not about keeping things under control, it’s about keeping things safe.

The doctor, who preferred to remain anonymous, said doctors need to be able to focus on each patient, adding: “You have to be 100 percent sharp, you have to pick up on the signals, you have to be very, very alert.” , and sure in that.’

Some 860 GP practices responded to the survey, a sample size the Department of Health and Social Care said was small.

As the surgeries that told the magazine they had set a daily patient limit account for less than 3 per cent of all GP practices in England, it is unclear whether the majority have done so.

Dr Samira Anane, from the BMA, said: “While the sample size of this survey is too small to be truly representative of general practice, the BMA (recommended limit) ensures that patients receive high-quality care. to address your full range of needs.’

But Dr Amanda Doyle, the national director of primary care for England’s NHS, told Pulse the cap was “arbitrary,” adding: “We don’t want practices that routinely, when open, divert patients.”