Time-short GPs admit to missing symptoms

MORE than one in three GPs has failed to properly diagnose patients due to short appointment times, a survey reveals today.

Family doctors are often under pressure to keep consultations under 10 minutes to meet demand.

Some 94 per cent of NHS GPs polled said this made them stressed or anxious and 35 per cent admitted they had missed symptoms.

The minimum “safe” period for an appointment is around 16-20 minutes, found the survey of 200 GPs by law firm Slater and Gordon.

However, half had to keep them under 10 minutes and some had to work even faster.

Parm Sahota from Slater and Gordon said that “it’s not just the patients who lose out, it’s also affecting the mental health of our GPs.

Workload

“They need to have enough time to do their jobs correctly and robustly for the health of the UK”.

Some 55 per cent of doctors feared they had missed serious health issues due to time pressure, while 37 per cent believed they had prescribed the wrong treatment.

More time with patients was their number one priority.

Almost three-quarters had considered leaving the NHS for private practice and 45 per cent giving up medicine altogether.

Prof Helen Stokes Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said the 10-minute appointment is “no longer fit for purpose”.

She added: “We have called for 15-minute appointments as a standard, with longer for those patients with complex health needs who need it.

“But with GP workload soaring, falling numbers of family doctors, and patients waiting longer for appointments, we need more resources and an expanded workforce to make these longer consultations feasible – otherwise it will only add to pressures.”