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Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. Every week, a few of our favourite writers read out

their pieces from the latest issue. This episode, we're going to be joined by Dr Max Pemberton,

who writes about the rise of online GPs and why they don't quite do the job. Then he'll be

joined by Andrew Watts, who writes from Cornwall while it's in the news for the G7 this weekend

about why having a second home there is nothing to be proud of. And finally, we'll hear from Yacenda, Maxne and Graham,

who campaigns for the return of choirs.

First is Max Pemberton.

Where have all the GPs gone?

They were some of the first to be double-jabbed,

placed the head of teachers in the queue,

precisely so they could resume their work seeing patients in the flesh.

But while schools have long been back, GPs have retreated behind their laptops, never to be seen again, at least not in the flesh.

Their stethoscope has been replaced by a headset,

to the despair of patients with ailments that are hard to diagnose over the phone or via a laptop.

In theory, GPs can claim that normal service

has resumed. In the pandemic, the number of consultations halved to 3 million a week, in spite

of attempts made to keep healthcare running. This is a horrific drop, with consequences that

can only be guessed at. This is the problem with ministers urging us to

protect the NHS by not using it. People don't seek medical care, including cancer diagnoses,

and it will kill as surely as COVID. But GPs say consultations are back now to normal levels

with about six million appointments a week. But look into the figures and you can see a big flaw.

...