More than 90% of North East GPs don't think they have enough time with patients to make sure they are safe, while a senior North Tyneside GP has said he thinks GPs face are in the "most precarious position" he can remember.
The Rebuild GP campaign - launched by a the British Medical Association (BMA) and the General Practitioners Defence Fund (GPDF) and backed by former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt - surveyed family doctors around the country and found shocking rates of anxiety, stress and depression among GPs. Their survey also found just 13% of GPs in our region "believe that their practice is safe for patients at all times".
The survey also highlighted how almost three-quarters (72%) of GPs in our area think the risk to patients in their practices is increasing, and 91% said they "do not believe they have adequate time with each patient to provide a thorough diagnosis and therefore ensure patient safety". A worrying 86% reported struggling with their own mental health in the last year, too. That's based on answers from 1,395 GPs, 165 of whom are based in the North East.
