GPs fear NHS reforms will lead to patients losing faith in care

The findings are revealed in a study published by the British Medical Association (BMA), which is described by the association as being the “most significant survey of GP opinion in recent years”.

Every family doctor in the UK was approached to take part in the research and around 40 per cent – 18,757 out of a possible 46,700 GPs – responded.

The figures show that seven out of 10 GPs are concerned about conflicts of interest resulting from the NHS reforms, and the same number also say they are concerned about the impact the Health and Social Care Bill could have on the patient-doctor relationship.

Sixty-nine per cent of doctors, meanwhile, say they are worried about their proposed role as both the commissioners and providers of care.

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA’s GPs Committee, said: “The huge response rate shows how strongly GPs feel about the topics in question, particularly when it comes to the changes being made to the health service in England.

“GPs do not want the trust patients put in them to be damaged by these reforms, yet this is exactly what they fear will happen.

“The Government must take heed and further revise its plans for the quality premium in particular, to avoid any potential damage to the doctor-patient relationship.”

The BMA said the results of the study should “serve as a crucial measure of GP opinion for years to come.”

Some three quarters of GPs said they do not agree with the Government’s proposals to link practice income to the performance of their commissioning group, while 85 per cent do not believe that practice boundaries should be abolished.

Other findings show that 88 per cent of doctors say the “intensity of their consultations” has increased in the last five years, while 84 per cent say the “complexity of their consultations” has increased over the same period of time.

Dr Buckman added: “General practice has undergone huge change since the last time we carried out a survey of this size in 2007 – and this is shown clearly by the belief among the vast majority of GPs that the nature of their work has become more complex and intense.

“Much of the work we do now, such as looking after people with diabetes, used to be done in hospital and even though it’s work we want to do because of the clear benefit to patients, it has made it harder to fit a consultation into a ten-minute time slot and it can make it more difficult to deal with surges in demand.

“I’d like to thank all the GPs who filled in the survey as it has given us a great insight into the GP workforce.

“It will be invaluable in shaping our priorities in the months and years ahead.”

Earlier this month, the Health and Social Care Bill cleared a crucial hurdle as it received a second reading in the House of Lords.

Peers rejected by a margin of 330-262 an attempt by former SDP leader Lord Owen to delay the Bill by referring it to a special committee.

The house also voted down a bid to kill off the legislation altogether by refusing it a second reading, defeating an amendment from Labour’s Lord Rea by 354 votes to 220.

During the Lords debate, a petition run online by the 38 Degrees lobby group gathered more than 150,000 signatures urging peers to block the Bill.