Warnings over ‘disaster’ of 10-minute GP consultations

Professor Martin Marshall, vice chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), has warned that 10 minute consultations raise doctor fatigue and reduce quality of care for patients.

The RCGP and British Medical Association have both repeatedly warned that this duration is inadequate given the rising complexity of patients’ needs, and the BMA supports 15 minute consultations, giving GPs more time to assess patients.

Professor Marshall, speaking at a recent conference, said “The 10-minute consultation is a disaster, essentially.

“I’m not sure it was ever adequate, but it certainly isn’t adequate now when we know consultation rates are going up and the complexity of what we’re dealing with is going up as well.

“The stuff we don’t need to put our efforts into is the stuff in the middle – probably the 60% of stuff in the middle – the 10-minute consultations for relatively simple, relatively straightforward things.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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