British GPs have been slow to offer on-line consultations, researchers say today.

Their findings were rejected by senior doctors, who say that practices are right to be cautious about introducing them.

According to academics from five different British universities, practices should be offering new technologies “as soon as possible.”

They have even set up a website to help practices decide what new technologies to invest in.

The academics include Professor John Campbell, professor of general practice in Exeter, and Professor Chris Salisbury, of Bristol University.

Writing in the British Journal of General Practice, the say that new ways of working offer “potential advantages” by reducing workload and improving accessibility and convenience.

They concede that concerns about them increasing workload – along with issues of confidentiality and safety – have prevented take-up in the UK. But they are now routine in the USA and Denmark, the academics say.

But the Royal College of GPs warned that research evidence showed that new technologies might not reduce workload pressures.

Vice-chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne said: “Online and telephone consultations can be great for some patients, but they won’t be suitable for others – and if practices do choose to offer them, then it should be as one way to access GP services, not the only way.

“We agree with the researchers that any practices thinking about alternatives to face-to-face consultations should do so after careful consideration of the implications for the practice and patients, and to this end the College is developing guidance on this.

“If this route to consulting with patients is being considered by a practice, practice policies must be developed carefully, agreed by all in the practice, and followed to ensure patient safety.”