Impact of COVID-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people in England — context please

Peter Smith

doi:10.3399/bjgp22X720101

Foley et al’s article¹ lacks the context of these figures with no mention of the direction that was suggested to primary care by NHS England and indeed the government.²^,³

The authors also fail to mention that this was also during times when no vaccination was available and some high-risk colleagues could not see patients physically. Do not forget that the lack of PPE and deaths of healthcare staff as a result of the pandemic were ever present.

I am disappointed that this article only shows figures with absolutely no context at all and meant to further chastise primary care.

REFERENCES

1.↵
1. Foley KA,
2. Maile EJ,
3. Bottle A,
4. et al.
(2022) Impact of COVID-19 on primary care contacts with children and young people in England: longitudinal trends study 2015–2020. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0643.
2.↵
1. Campbell D
(Mar 6, 2020) GPs told to switch to digital consultations to combat Covid-19. The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/06/gps-told-to-switch-to-remote-consultations-to-combat-covid-19 (accessed 15 Jun 2022).
3.↵
1. NHS England
(2020) Millions of patients benefiting from remote consultations as family doctors respond to COVID-19. www.england.nhs.uk/2020/05/millions-of-patients-benefiting-from-remote-consultations-as-family-doctors-respond-to-covid-19 (accessed 15 Jun 2022).