Practices delivered three million more face to face appointments in August than a year earlier – representing the majority of appointments, according to new data.

However, in a statistic that provided fuel to critics of the move to phone triage, the number of face to face appointments was also five million less than in August 2019, before the pandemic.The criticism triggered another loss to general practice yesterday as one high profile GP announced his resignation.

The NHS Data figures show an overall reduction in appointments between July and August, reflecting the seasonal holiday season reduction in appointments. The number of face to face and telephone appointments both reduced by nearly a million in the month. In total 23.7 million appointments, through all media, were booked in the month, compared with 25.6 million in July, 20.1 million in August last year and 22.8 million in August 2019. 57.7% of appointments were face to face and 38.4% on the phone.

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Martin Marshall said: “Today’s figures show that it’s a misconception that GPs and other members of our team aren’t seeing patients face-to-face. Huge numbers of GP appointments are being made every day, almost half on the same day they are booked, with a higher proportion being made in person in August than July and all in line with infection control measures to keep patients safe. This is against a backdrop of intense workload and workforce pressures in general practice.

“The narrative that remote consultations are substandard compared with seeing a GP face to face is concerning. GPs, nurses, pharmacists and others working in general practice strive to deliver the same high-quality care whether a consultation is remote or in person. Some patients prefer remote consultations as they can be more convenient and fit around other commitments – and some people are more likely to access care when they need it remotely as opposed to going to a surgery or feel more comfortable discussing certain aspects of their health.”

Dr Mark Sanford-Wood, deputy chair of the British Medical Association GP committee, said: “We didn’t have enough GPs before the pandemic, and we don’t have enough now. Sadly, there are 1,904 fewer fully qualified full-time GPs than there were in 2015. Every part of the NHS is under an immense burden like never before. Waiting lists, a huge backlog and many people needing their GPs who have been waiting so as not to overload general practice – all these factors layered together give us a crisis in healthcare. Covid is still impacting GPs and their teams with staff absences, having to cope with small waiting rooms and now an earlier than normal increase in respiratory viruses piling on even more pressure. Despite this, these government figures show that GPs are working harder than ever and dealing with even more patients than before the pandemic.”

But Dennis Reed, the director of Silver Voices, a campaign group for the elderly, tells the Daily Telegraph, which today solely highlights the one million reduction in face to face appointments in the month: “We keep hearing promises from ministers and officials that there will be action on this, but nothing changes – remote appointments have become the new normal, regardless of what the public wants.”