First I’d like to thank the Longfield Medical Centre for their excellent service.

Moving to Maldon I was anxious that I was leaving a flagship practice where my GP was Dr Clare Gerada DBE (for services to general practice).

The demands on GPs are greater than ever as skilled and expert generalists.

Why does the Government not support their findings that they are able use online/telephone appointments, where appropriate, in order to enable more necessary face-to-face appointments when it is not possible to make a diagnosis/give support over the phone?

We are happy to move to online in many other areas of our lives but there great resistance in the case of GP practices.

With better understanding of the implications in calling for more face to face appointments, prejudice to positive modernisation might be overcome.

My experience of booking appointments is that a mix of appointments has worked very well.

Yes, there is often a long wait to book an appointment by phone which I assume affects more of the elderly and vulnerable and I hope there is a way of this being improved.

By supporting our doctors and understanding and taking heed of what they have to say and why, I hope we can retain them in the profession they have trained for.

With our support I hope they can achieve job satisfaction and not feel they are failing us.

How I wish the Government would listen and the Press would print GP’s findings and the extraordinary breadth of work they are expected to undertake.

I find it extraordinary that we are able to put our health issues in their hands and by implication have trust in their learning and experience, yet when it comes to something as measurable as the effectiveness of the combination of online and face-to-face appointments they are shouted down.

Well done GP’s and thank you.

Tessa Harrison

Victoria Road, Maldon