Under-pressure GPS treat up to one hundred patients a day

FAMILY doctors are dealing with up to 100 patients a day amid growing shortages of doctors, a survey has found.

GPS said patients were being put at increasing risk by attempts to squeeze in far more appointments than could be carried out safely.

The poll shows the average doctor now deals with 41 patients each day. One in five said they had a daily caseload of more than 50 patients, with some reporting more than 100 cases to handle daily.

Leading medical professionals said staff shortages had left practices under “relentless” pressure, suggesting safety was compromised if GPS had to take on more than 25 patients a day.

Doctors said they were being forced to rush appointments, increasing the risk of missing crucial symptoms and making potentially harmful errors.

The poll of 900 GPS by Pulse magazine found GPS have an average of 41.5 patient contacts per day, including faceto-face and telephone consultations, home visits and consultations by email.

In total, 21 per cent of GPS reported more than 50 patient contacts each day, including 4 per cent with a daily caseload of more than 70 patients, and 1 per cent with more than 100 cases per day.

Ministers have repeatedly pledged to bring in 5,000 more GPS, in response to growing shortages which have led to longer waiting times and record numbers of practice closures.

However, figures published by NHS Digital show a drop of 542 GPS since April 2017. One GP in East Anglia said he had just resigned after becoming unwell trying to cope with up to 80

appointments and calls a day. Another said they had resigned as they could no longer cope with 14-hour days.

Prof Helen Stokes-lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPS, said: “Many GPS and our teams are regularly working way beyond what could be considered safe for patients, and potentially jeopardising our own health and well-being.” Dr Mary Mccarthy, vicepresident of the European Union of General Practitioners and a member of the British Medical Association’s general practitioners committee, said: “Around 25 contacts is safe.”

Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the BMA’S general practitioners committee, said: “We know that unmanageable and unsafe workload is the primary reason behind doctors leaving general practice, which is leading to serious issues including practices closing to new patients and others closing entirely.”