HEALTH chiefs have revealed that despite lockdown restrictions GP practices in Cheshire managed to conduct 1.3m face-to-face appointments.

Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, GPs were still available to host physical appointments with patients, while new figures show between April 1 last year and March 31 this year, a similar number (1.3 million) of telephone and video appointments were carried out.

GPS processed more than 52,000 referrals and issued more than 13 million prescriptions, says the Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Its clinical chair, Sandbach-based GP Dr Andrew Wilson, says the figures showcase the breadth of work in primary care to support local people.

"There's no doubt that 2020'21 was a year like no other for everyone working in health and care," he said. "But despite the many, many challenges we have all faced, Cheshire's GP practices have worked hard to support local people with both Covid and non-Covid related health issues.

"As these statistics clearly show, Cheshire's GP practices have been extremely busy throughout – it's just that some of our services may look a bit different.

"We've introduced new ways of working such as telephone and video appointments to help keep people safe, while also leading the way on the county's coronavirus and flu vaccination programmes."

To protect against the spread of Covid patients may still be asked to discuss their conditions over the phone or online to assess what would be the most appropriate course of action.

But Cheshire CCG stresses that face-to-face appointments are available to all patients in line with clinical need.

Dr Wilson asked people to remain patient when seeking primary care and added: "Many people have been quick to praise health and care staff for working tirelessly throughout the Covid-19 response, however frontline staff are indeed very tired.

"Against this backdrop, health and care services, including GP practices, are now also experiencing heightened demand following the peak of the pandemic."