Giving patients electronic access to their GP

Improvements in personal computing and social media lead to patients gaining access to their GP electronically through email, Skype and other social media. Patients may also have access to their own medical records and store these online.

Proposed workforce impact

• Increased workload for GPs and the wider practice team.
• Changes in relational dynamics take place between the GP and patient.
• Email/online consultations may impact on the volume and/or nature of the patient contact.

Additional research questions

• If there is an increased use of IT and multiple channels of patient engagement, will GPs and the wider practice team still value skills such as effective communication as highly?

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.