One in 10 overtired GPs across the UK are seeing twice as many patients as they should, with some openly making mistakes, according to new research.
The new research of 1,681 GPs, carried out by Pulse magazine, has formed part of a new programme for BBC’s Panorama.
Researchers asked family doctors about their experiences on a single day - February 11- when seven out of 10 of the GPs were scheduled to work six or more hours.
It found doctors are seeing far more patients than they think is safe and struggle to be sympathetic to those coming through the door.
One doctor, a Hertfordshire GP, said that after seeing around 20 patients, there is a point where he feels “cognitively drained”.
He added: “There is not an iota of empathy left.”
His experienced was echoed by others who took part in the research. On average, each GP dealt with 41 patients per day, despite saying 30 was a safe number. One in 10 dealt with 60 or more patients - double the safe limit.
Nottingham GP Dr Jonathan Harte, who took part in the survey, told Pulse: “By lunchtime, I felt on the edge and risked missing urgent tasks and contacts, thus affecting patient safety.
“I did miss the fact that a patient I had tried to contact earlier in the day had called back, so I didn’t call her back before the surgery closed.”
The poll found that GPs are working an average 11-hour days, including eight hours of clinical care and three hours of admin.
When it came to the type of health issues patients had, GPs said 29% of cases were “very complex” and 37% were “fairly complex”.
Just over half said their workload that day was beyond safe levels, but most said it represented a typical day. The data included face-to-face contact with patients (the most common type), phone and online appointments and home visits.
Dr James Howarth, a GP in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, said: “I was duty doctor on the day of Pulse’s survey, and I had 124 patient contacts. The median is about 60 to 70 - beyond a safe level.”
He said as well as patient demand, there was a “workload dump” from secondary hospital care, such as “decoding illegible handwritten prescription requests”, consultants sending patients back for referrals to their colleagues, chasing referrals for patients, chasing missing information and dealing with inadequate discharge letters.
He added: “This workload creates patient safety risks. There are risks around having multiple patient notes open because we’re helping a nurse out with hers, or we’re 30 minutes late so we see the next patient while finishing the notes of the last.
“We might forget consultant details, plans and actions, or prescribe for the wrong person, use the wrong labels on blood tests, and so on.”
He said in the previous week he sent a blood test using the wrong patient details due to being extremely busy.
“I spotted it in time, but how many do we fail to spot?,” he said.
“I have raised safety concerns with governing bodies before. I was basically told to shut up or my practice would be run over with a fine-toothed comb.”
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, is another of those affected by heavy workloads.
She said: “In my own practice recently, I had a 12-hour day and 100 patient contacts. GPs across the UK will tell similar stories.”
Professor Clare Gerada, former chairwoman of the RCGP, said tired GPs were at risk of mistakes, and high numbers of patients added to this.
“You could miss a result or misread a letter, or you don’t focus on the right symptom or ask the right question,” she said.
A report in March from the King’s Fund, Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation predicted that GP shortages in England will almost triple to 7,000 by 2023/24.
It said the government would miss its target to recruit 5,000 more GPs by 2020 and the only way to cope with the growing workload was to put more pharmacists and physiotherapists into GP practices.
Research from Europe suggests GPs see 25 or fewer patients per day.
Dr Nikita Kanani, NHS England’s national medical director for primary care, said: “We already know that general practice is under pressure which is why investment in local doctors and community services is increasing by £4.5 billion, helping fund an army of 20,000 more staff to support GP practices as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
“But we are also aware that almost nine out of 10 salaried GPs currently work part-time.”