Doctors call for GP appointments to be five minutes longer, claiming ten minutes is ‘unsafe’
Calls for a 'shake up' as report reveals GPs see up to 60 patients a day
PATIENTS are being put at risk because doctors are forced to cram consultations into 10 minute appointments.
The British Medical Association has called for appointments to be lengthened to 15 minutes in a bid to improve safety and stop practices being "run into the ground".
The body said doctors are forced to see up to 60 patients a day and demanded more funding as an ageing population puts more pressure on health services.
Earlier this month The Sun reported that 175 surgeries have claimed they are too full to take on newcomers in 2015-2016.
Dr Brian Balmer, of the GP committee, said: “In a climate of staff shortages and limited budgets, GP practices are struggling to cope with rising patient demand, especially from an ageing population with complicated, multiple health needs that cannot be properly treated within the current 10-minute recommended consultation.
“Many GPs are being forced to truncate care into an inadequate time frame and deliver an unsafe number of consultations, seeing in some cases 40 to 60 patients a day.
"This is well above the 25 consultations per day, which is the recommended level in many other EU countries.”
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The Safe Working Levels in General Practice report calls for a shake up of GP services.
It suggests local hubs are introduced to manage appointments for a number of surgeries in a bid to introduce safe patient limits.
NHS England has said there are no national limits for appointment times.
But, the NHS Choices website states that GPs spend an average of eight to 10 minutes with patients.
Dr Balmer said: “We need a new approach that shakes up the way patients get their care from their local GP practice.
“The consultation time needs to increase to 15 minutes with the Government providing on its promised funding to make this work.
“As part of the package, more GPs must be put in front of patients so that the number of consultations per GP a day falls to a sustainable level.
“We need to learn from best practice across the UK and look at options, where appropriate, for organising GP practices into hubs, where knowledge and resources can be shared.
“General practice in the UK cannot be allowed to continue being run into the ground: it’s time for positive change that gives patients the care they deserve.”
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