Public Says GPs Are Overworked, Poll Shows

More than seven out of ten members of the public say their GP is overworked, according to a MORI poll.

The BMA-commissioned survey will come as a boost to family doctors who may have believed their hard work was being taken for granted.

Seventy-two per cent of the people polled said their GP was either 'very overworked' or 'fairly overworked'. 3 per cent felt their family doctor was 'underworked', while 19 per cent said they thought their GP's workload was 'about right'.

BMA GPs committee joint deputy chairman Hamish Meldrum said: 'The results of this survey are a resounding endorsement of our claims about the workload of GPs and demonstrate the need to address the problems facing GPs and their patients.'

The figures exclude 9 per cent of the sample that had not seen their GP recently, and therefore did not give a rating.

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,979 adults aged 15+ in 202 sampling points in Great Britain from 10-14 May 2001.

All interviews were conducted face-to-face in-home and the data have been weighted to the known profile of the population. The number who gave a rating is 1,810 adults aged 15+.

Attitudes Towards GPs Topline results - 21/05/01

• 1,979 interviews with adults aged 15+, of whom, 1,810 adults gave a rating. Conducted in-home, face-to-face
• Fieldwork conducted 10-14 May 2001.
• 202 sampling points throughout Great Britain
• Base all (1,979) unless otherwise stated
• Data weighted to equivalent population profile
• '*' denotes a finding of less than half a per cent but more than zero.
• Where figures do not add up to 100% this is due to computer rounding or multiple answers

I would now like to ask you a question about your National Health Service General Practitioner, or GP. By 'your GP' I mean the NHS GP you tend to see most often.

Q How overworked or not do you feel your NHS GP is? Would you say very overworked, fairly overworked, workload about right, fairly underworked or very underworked?