The NHS hopes video consultations are a sign of things to come

RESIDENTS OF LONDON, bits of Birmingham and north-west Surrey no longer need to ring up first thing in the morning to nab an appointment with their family doctor. They have access to new digital GP services allowing them to book video consultations with clinicians at short notice. For the moment, video calls represent a tiny fraction of the 307m GP consultations each year. But that is unlikely to remain the case for long. NHS England plans a new GPs’ contract giving all patients the right to online and video consultations by 2021.

If all goes to plan, the shift to digital services will go far beyond video consultations. The basic mechanics of primary care are remarkably similar to when the NHS was created in 1948, with GPs the first destination for the ill and gatekeepers to the rest of the service. NHS officials hope that the introduction of digital services will upend the primary-care system by diverting people who do not need care and, where appropriate, treating patients at home.