Nine out of 10 GPs fear missing symptoms due to heavy workload, poll suggests

Additionally, one in 10 GPs said they plan to quit in the next year

The findings are likely to cast doubts on the government's pledge to add 5,000 new family doctors to the NHS by 2020 (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Nine out of 10 GPs say they fear missing a patient's symptoms during a consultation because they are so busy, a poll of family doctors suggests.

Additionally, one in 10 said they felt so overworked and disillusioned with the push for seven-day GP services that they plan to quit in the next year, The Guardian reports.

A poll of 504 GPs from across the UK, carried out last month by ComRes on behalf of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), found 88 per cent of respondents worried about missing something serious during an appointment with a patient because of their busy workload.

The survey noted 99 per cent of respondents said their workload had risen, and 94 per cent felt fatigue had increased over the past five years.

Three in ten had sought help with work-related stress in the past two years. A third thought their surgery was unlikely to remain open in 10 years time, according to GP Online.

The findings are likely to cast doubts on the government's pledge to add 5,000 new family doctors to the NHS by 2020.

Doctor Maureen Baker, chair of the RCGP, said: "The results of our polls show that general practice is on a knife-edge with GPs feeling that there is insufficient resourcing to deliver a five day service, let alone a seven day service, and two thirds of patients feeling that the high number of consultations being carried out by GPs is a threat to the standard of care they can provide to their patients.

"With the population ageing and growing in size, resulting in an increasing prevalence of serious long-term conditions, it is of little surprise that GPs’ workload has soared, while morale has plummeted.

"With this week’s spending review, the government has the opportunity to stop the rot, and start investing in a renewed general practice."