askMyGP is an online general practitioner consultation platform launched in 2011 by GP Access Ltd, based in Leicestershire. It aims to improve patient access to healthcare and cut down on unnecessary appointments. The company claims only 30% of patients seeking help need a face-to-face appointment. It gives patients the option of submitting a symptom-related questionnaire online to a GP. In January 2018, it was said to have managed 29,000 patient episodes in a dozen practices. A pilot scheme backed by the

Health and Social Care Board The Health and Social Care Board is an organisation responsible for the commissioning of health services for the people of Northern Ireland. Its current chief executive is Ms. Valerie Watts. Creation The Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Nor ...

was introduced in Northern Ireland in 2016. This gave patients the option of explaining their symptoms to a receptionist by telephone or completing the same questionnaire on line themselves. One news report found a

Falls Road, Belfast The Falls Road () is the main road through West Belfast, Northern Ireland, running from Divis Street in Belfast City Centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. The name has been synonymous for at least a century and a half with the Catholic comm ...

practice treataing 2,700 patients looked forward to an outcome from a pilot program using askMyGP. It was introduced to the Riverside Group Practice in

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

in 2016. The chair of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

's Northern Ireland GP committee said there was pushback initially but it is now more appreciated by clients. When tried at a practice in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

it wasn’t favoured by all the staff at the surgery, but it was reported that "the ability to signpost to the free NHS physiotherapy self-referral service saves face to face surgery appointments.” Sue Arnott a GP serving 5,000 patients in

Shotts Shotts is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow () and Edinburgh (). The village has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertram de ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

began using askMyGP in 2018 after two colleagues at the practice retired. In November 2021 she temporarily shut down the askMyGP service, and reportedly 70% of patients were managed online and some were receiving insufficient treatment. The

Health Foundation The Health Foundation is an independent charity for health care for people in the UK. The organisation’s aim is a healthier population, supported by high quality health care that can be equitably accessed. Its programs include making grants to ...

conducted a study of 146 GP practices in England using askmyGP between 1 March 2019 and 30 September 2021 - during the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

. They analysed 7.5 million patient-initiated requests. There were concerns about the risk of digital tools creating inequalities by making it difficult for some patients to access care but patients often chose remote over face-to-face consultations. Four GP practices in

Bury, Greater Manchester Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundarie ...

switched off access to the online consultation service in April 2022 because of the significant number of outstanding requests from patients that they had been unable to deal with. James Daly, the local MP, and local residents expressed concern that this would increase attendance at A&E.

References

{{reflist General practice Health software Science and technology in Leicestershire