NHS Confederation - Primary care would grind to a halt if GPs become testing gatekeepers

16 Sep 2020 02:55 PM

Dr Graham Jackson, GP and senior clinical adviser at the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare system, responded to reports that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is considering making GPs the gatekeepers of the testing system 

“The idea of GPs being gatekeepers to tests for Covid-19 would completely overwhelm general practice and would mean primary care would grind to a halt. This is not a good use of general practice resources at a time when they need to focus on patients who need to access them.

“Any change such as introducing GP screening in this way has the potential to slow up the process of receiving a test for those who really need it.”