The influence the newspapers are having on GP morale should not be underestimated .
Some senior politicians have recently called for a stop to banker bashing after just three years despite their impact on many people's lives.
Yet GPs as a professional group have suffered a sustained media attack for perhaps six years.
The newspapers and some of the public may not understand that it is ultimately in the national interest to work with GPs closely if any progress is to be made with the NHS reforms.
The assumption is that GPs are thick-skinned and can brush off this sustained attack.
But your report of GP burnout suggests that a GP's dermis is thinner than anticipated.
If you were to poll GPs on the effect of the national media on morale, you might find a damaging result.
If the Government really wants a partnership with GPs, this emotional abuse must stop.
Those newspapers that purport to represent the people urgently need to recognise this and see GPs as part of the solution rather than the problem.
From Dr David Iles, Southampton
