There was a two-fold rise in telephone and video GP consultations with children and young people during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, according to new figures out today.

Children and young people’s contacts with GPs in England dropped by 41%, which is equivalent to 2.8 million contacts, between March and June 2020 compared with previous years. However, the rise in remote consulting offset an 88% fall in face-to-face contacts for patients aged from 0 to 24 years, according to the analysis

Smaller reductions were recorded for some groups, such as infants and those with potentially more serious conditions, and the findings indicate that GPs largely continued to provide accessible acute care for children and young people. It is the first time the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people’s access to primary care has been studied and the findings are published in the latest edition of the British Journal of General Practice.

Researchers from Imperial College London examined more than 47 million electronic health records collected from more than four million children and young people registered with GP practices in England in the CPRD Aurum database. In total, 47,607,765 GP contacts with 4,307,120 children and young people were included in the analysis and the team found between 2015 and 2020 children aged 1–14 years had greater falls in total contacts at more than 50% compared with infants and those aged 15–24 years. Face-to-face contacts fell by 88%, with the greatest falls occurring among children aged 1-14 years at more than 90%. However, remote contacts more than doubled, increasing most in infants.

Professor Sonia Saxena, professor of primary care at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College, said: “It is reassuring to see that the efforts of hard-working GPs across the country helped children to see their GP safely across the first lockdown period.”

The researchers say as the NHS plans for the future, its study may provide insights into the balance between face-to-face and remote appointments with GPs.