Is Primary Care Locking In The Digital Gains Of Covid-19?

When the country moved to Alert level four in late March, GPs were asked to do a virtual consult with every patient before seeing any in person. This dramatic shift to using telehealth saw some practices conduct almost all of their consultations over the phone or via video during lockdown. By early June, half of practices had returned to seeing the majority of patients in person, but by the end of the month that had risen to 90 percent. The figures are the results of a series of national surveys conducted by Auckland University asking general practices about their experience with Covid-19 and its aftermath, attracting between 150-170 respondents each time. But despite some practices returning to ‘business as usual’ post-lockdown, there are encouraging signs that some of the digital gains will become permanent.