Hospitals 'dump work on GPs'

Hospitals are discharging patients with inadequate medical details and forcing more work onto GPs, according to a report published today.

Family doctors say people are now coming to them with “poor” records or “no clinical information” about their health condition.

The findings are from the largest-ever survey carried out by Londonwide LMCs, the body which supports GPs in the capital.

Its head, Dr Michelle Drage, warned that “dumping” of work by hospitals is piling pressure on practices and adding to their workload. She said: “GPs will walk. Hospitals’ discharge summaries are few and far between, and dumping of prescribing is frequent and frustrating.”

The GP Workload Survey reveals that poor communication from hospitals is putting many doctors at risk of physical and mental “burn-out” as they also struggle to cope with an increasing “tick-box” culture, paperwork and lack of resources.

Four in five GPs said that their workload was “unsustainable” and one complained of having to work 14 hours a day, starting at 6.30am.