Overloaded GPs forced to limit access to online consulting site

Triage system eConsult was supposed to improve patient care but UK surgeries are having to switch it off for periods as demand soars

An online consultation platform widely used by GP surgeries and promoted as being available around the clock" is being turned off by some practices for most of the day because of high demand.

The eConsult platform is used in more than 3,000 GP practices in England, Scotland and Wales to help direct patients to the care they need. The online facility, offered to about 28 million patients, is described in promotional material as available to use any time, day or night, from any device connected to the internet".