The safety of patients is being put at risk because GPs are being forced to carry out complex consultations in 10 minutes or less, the BMA has claimed.
The doctors’ body warned that patient care was being undermined when GPs are forced to see up to 60 patients a day.
The British Medical Association called for more funding to allow GPs to spend at least 15 minutes with each patient.
NHS England said consultation lengths were up to doctors and there were no national limits suggesting 10 minutes.
However, the NHS Choices website does state that “GPs spend an average of 8-10 minutes with each patient” and advises patients to “plan ahead to make sure you cover everything you want to discuss”.
The BMA report called for a reorganisation of general practice and warned that GPs face “unsustainable pressure” from increasing workload and staff shortages.
‘New approach’
Dr Brian Balmer, of the GPs’ committee, said that in an ageing population, many patients had complex multiple conditions that needed longer to treat.
Dr Balmer warned that many GPs were being forced to truncate care and deliver “an unsafe number of consultations”.
He said consultations should be limited to 25 a day, about the same number recommended in many other EU countries.
He added: “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.”
