By Lilian Anekwe
Nine out of ten GPs would like to spend more time with their patients per appointment, according to the results of the latest health of the workplace study.
The survey of 200 GPs by Aviva UK health found nearly all GPs questioned (97%) said they would like to spend more time with each patient, with nearly seven in ten (69%) stating they would like to see the average appointment increased to 15 minutes, and nearly a quarter (24%) wanting more than 15 minutes.
The current NHS standard requires GP appointment times are kept to ten minutes, with GPs spending an average of seven minutes per patient.
But over half (57%) of GPs say they have less time to see patients than five years ago and 63% claim to feel rushed when dealing with appointments.
More than half (58%) of 179 members of the public surveyed in an online poll said a lack of time prevented them from raising being able to raise more general health concerns with their GP, because of the pressure on GPs to stick to tight appointment times.
Dr Doug Wright, principal clinical consultant at Aviva UK Health, said: ‘GPs are tremendously busy and under pressure to deal with high numbers of patients and a growing administrative workload. It's therefore important that individuals continue to be encouraged to take more control of their own health.'
97% of GPs say they don't have enough time with patients
