Hello everyone, thank you so much for your support with this petition. At this time we have almost 420,000 signatures which shows how many people are affected by this issue. 
I just wanted to update you on what else I have done to further this campaign. I wrote to my local MP who is Sir Iain Duncan Smith. He forwarded my letter to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Primary Care and Health Protection, Jo Churchill MP who sent me a letter of response. 
She began by saying that in June, just over half (56.3%) of all GP appointments were face to face. To me that means that almost half of all appointments are still remote which just isn’t good enough!
She explained that on 13th May NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) had written to GP practices setting out their expectations regarding access- that ‘practice receptions should be open and that patients’ input into the choice of consultation should be sought and their preferences for care should be respected.’

She then said the NHSE&I had written to GP practices again on 19th July to reiterate that ‘GP contractors should continue to offer a blended approach of face-to-face and remote appointments, with digital assessment of patient care needs where possible.’

So this begs the question, why are GP practices not adhering to these directives?  In a huge number of practices they are most certainly not ‘offering’ patients face-to-face appointments. 

She finishes by reassuring me that ‘general practice stands ready to see, treat and vaccinate local populations’. 

In conclusion I feel that this needs a government directive to GP practices to at least offer patients face to face appointments as the NHS directives are  clearly being ignored and have been since May. 

This subject has recently been covered by many talk shows and in the national press. 

This issue is clearly important to so many peoples lives and the government needs to now demand a return to face to face GP appointments. 

Please would you join me in writing to your own local MP?
You can copy this link to find your MP and their email address -  https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP