Reports

Living with a rare disease or condition poses many challenges. Over the past decade, improving the delivery of care for the 3.5 million people living with rare diseases or conditions within the UK has been the central focus of the work of many.

In January 2021, the UK Rare Disease Framework was published by the Government. This identified four key priorities to be addressed if continued improvement in services and support for the approximately 1 in 17 UK citizens affected by a rare disease is to be realised in the lifetime of this Framework.

The four priorities are:
1. Helping patients get a final diagnosis faster
2. Increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals
3. Better coordination of care
4. Improving access to specialist care, treatments and medicines

https://publicpolicyprojects.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/07/PPP-Rare-Disease-Report-622.pdf

This briefing examined data from 146 GP practices in England using the askmyGP online consultation system between 1 March 2019 and 30 September 2021. 

• The analysis found that that 10% of patient care requests made to GP practices indicate a preference for a face-to-face consultation.
• Recently, the increasing use of online consultations systems such as askmyGP caused concern about the risk of digital tools creating inequalities by making it difficult for some patients to access care. However, the analysis shows that patients often choose remote over face-to-face consultations and that GP practices can mitigate the risk of digital exclusion via a blended approach.