gps are paid up to 100 an hour for virtual appointments as it emerged that family doctors now see half of their patients through remote consultation

GPs can earn £100 an hour without leaving home by carrying out remote consultations with patients.

It is the same rate being offered for in-person consultations, with ‘flexible’ shifts available for doctors during evenings and weekends.

The opportunity for GPs, advertised by Brighton-based out-of-hours care provider Improving Access Services, follows increasing concerns from some patients, particularly elderly ones, about the shift away from in-person appointments.

It follows a rise in wages which saw the average GP in England earn £100,700 in 2019-20.

GPs can earn £100 an hour without leaving home by carrying out remote consultations as concerns grow about a shift away from face-to-face visits as the NHS deals with Covid backlog

Dennis Reed, director of over-60s campaign group Silver Voices, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘The money involved is quite eye-watering.

‘Working from home might make for a less stressful lifestyle for the doctor, but this means fewer GPs in a surgery available for patients who need to see a doctor face-to-face.’

A spokesman for the BMA doctors’ union said: ‘To deal with the growing demand from a rising number of patients with increasingly complex conditions – which long pre-dates the pandemic – and to offer appointments outside of traditional working hours to people who find it difficult to attend during weekdays, all areas in England have provided extended-hours services since 2018.’

An NHS spokesman said: ‘Every GP practice must provide face-to-face as well as telephone and online appointments, and continuing to offer all of these methods of consultation is part of making primary care as accessible as possible.’