Responding a poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats which showed 47% of UK adults say they rarely or never seen the same GP for every appointment Ruth Rankine, director of the NHS Confederation’s Primary Care Network, said:

“GPs and their teams work incredibly hard to provide the best care for their patients. But the primary care sector is managing record levels of demand, with practices providing around 5.6 million more appointments in March than the same month before the pandemic and patients often attending with multiple or more complex conditions.

“Despite these pressures 44% of appointments took place the day they were booked in March, with 65% of consultations that month carried out face to face.

“Our members support and recognise the value of continuity of care, particularly for patients who need it such as those with complex comorbidities or who require regular review and treatment. This does not necessarily need to be with a doctor but can include the many different professionals who work in primary care, led by that patient’s GP.

“It is questionable how realistic introducing a named GP policy will be unless the sector is given the support and resources it needs. This includes committing to delivering and funding the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and supporting the sector to improve the retention of GPs, such as addressing high workload and burnout as well as tackling issues around financial sustainability.”