'Overworked doctors are being forced to cut corners'

PATIENTS are at risk because overstretched doctors cannot cope, a GP leader has claimed.

- By Hanna Geissler Health Editor

A survey by the Royal College of General Practitioners found 58% of members did not have enough time to adequately treat patients during appointments.

Because of that, 57% said they could not build the relationships they needed to deliver quality care.

And 73% felt patient safety was being compromised as a result of their workload pressures.

In a speech at the RCGP’s annual conference in Newport, south Wales, chair Prof Kamila Hawthorne will sound the alarm.

She is expected to say: “I meet GPs pushing themselves, day after day, to look after their patients in the face of ever-growing demand and an unsustainable lack of capacity.

“It’s hard to find a GP who doesn’t feel they have to cut corners.”