The New NHS: What Doctors Really Think

Tony Blair announced a new, modern and dependable National Health Service last December which would be "a beacon to the world" and run by the country's GPs. But, on the 50th anniversary of the NHS, a huge number of GPs are concerned about the proposals according to a new MORI poll for Reader's Digest.

The poll revealed:

• 84% of GPs are concerned about a heavy new administrative burden
• 61% believe public satisfaction with the NHS will go down
• 47% say patients should pay 1635 for non-emergency surgery visits
• 47% say waiting lists for operations will get worse; and 44% say waiting lists for referalls to a specialist will get worse
• 43% say overall level of funding will get worse
• 36% admit having denied a patient a drug treatment because it was too expensive
• 34% say overall quality of healthcare will get worse (although 23% say it will improve and 41% say it will stay the same)

Technical details

MORI conducted 200 interviews with GPs face-to-face in surgery between 16-27 March using Omnibus methodology. GPs were selected regionally with a spread across Health Authorities.