GPs are warning they are so overwhelmed with patients, it is causing avoidable mistakes.

A survey found that GPs are sometimes seeing twice as many patients as they should, which they say erodes their ability to be sympathetic and is exhausting them.

The poll of 1,681 GPs, carried out by Pulse magazine, found they are working an average 11-hour day, made up of eight hours of clinical care and three hours of admin.

On average, each GP is dealing with 11 more patients that the ‘safe’ number of 30 per day – with 10% saying they have dealt with double the safe limit.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “In my own practice recently, I had a 12-hour day and 100 patient contacts.

“GPs across the UK will tell similar stories.”

The survey asked GPs to chart their experience at work on Monday, 11 February.

Dr James Howarth, a GP in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, was duty doctor on the day of the survey and had 124 patient contacts.

He said as well as patient demand, there was a “workload dump” from secondary hospital care, such as “decoding illegible handwritten prescription requests”.

It also included consultants sending patients back for referrals to their colleagues, chasing referrals for patients, chasing missing information and dealing with inadequate discharge letters.

He added: “This workload creates patient safety risks. There are risks around having multiple patient notes open because we’re helping a nurse out with hers, or we’re 30 minutes late so we see the next patient while finishing the notes of the last.

“We might forget consultant details, plans and actions, or prescribe for the wrong person, use the wrong labels on blood tests, and so on.”

He said in the previous week he almost sent a blood test using the wrong patient details due to being extremely busy.

“I spotted it in time, but how many do we fail to spot?,” he said.

“I have raised safety concerns with governing bodies before. I was basically told to shut up or my practice would be run over with a fine-toothed comb.”

A report in March from the King’s Fund, Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation predicted that GP shortages in England will almost triple to 7,000 by 2023/24.

Dr Nikita Kanani, NHS England’s national medical director for primary care, said: “We already know that general practice is under pressure which is why investment in local doctors and community services is increasing by £4.5 billion, helping fund an army of 20,000 more staff to support GP practices as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

“But we are also aware that almost nine out of 10 salaried GPs currently work part-time.”

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