Thank You so much general public for all the lockdown compliance.

[MercyBooth]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9573177/GPs-told-screen-patients-online-total-triage-continues-lockdown.html

There are ppl out there who dont have smartphones because they cant afford them and THIS VERY GOVERNMENT told them not to prioritise them over food www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tory-esther-mcvey-suggests-poor-14210844

Tory Esther McVey says poor families 'prioritise new phones over food'
The former Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, who was the face of Universal Credit, appeared to blame low-income families' wanting 'new phones' for poverty
There will also be many who cant afford home internet either. The "just book online" attitudes for the under 50s will not work in poorer communities. Oh just do it online is not the answer to everything despite many on here and in RL thinking it is. Its a lazy default setting.

htn.co.uk/2020/07/31/matt-hancock-gp-tele-consultations-should-be-default-unless-reason-not-to/

Absolutely agree. So fed up of reading stuff in the media and from the government about people who claim benefits "but still find the money for a smartphone/broadband". Yet anyone on JSA or UC is expected to be able to job search online for 35 hours a week so an internet connection should be viewed as an essential utility. Even the tired old line that people should go to the library for their internet access doesn't work now thanks to Covid.

And it's only getting worse for poorer communities with more and more essential services moving online. Plus people in this situation are more likely to struggle with navigating websites, filling in forms etc. As someone on the thread about GPs put it, the move to online suits professionals like Matt Hancock very well but leaves many others behind.