Over nine in ten respondents to a BMA survey think that general practice services are at breaking point due to the heavy workload and a lack of resources.
The survey found that 67% of respondents thought that consultations with patients with complex needs, such as multiple long term condition should be given longer. Additionally, 56% said that the pressures of their workloads had a detrimental impact on their ability to care for patients. The majority of respondents also said that increased funding and a reduction in bureaucracy could be solutions to improving the overall care patients receive from general practice.
Dr Marina Lupari, the RCN's primary care nursing lead, said: 'We are at a point where we need to make some hard decisions about the role of GPs. We need to start asking questions about when nurses should care for some people, such as those with long-term conditions, or go on home visits.'
While over half of respondents thought that general practices should offer some form of extended opening hours, 94% said that practices were not well staffed and resourced enough to provide seven day working.
Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of the BMA's general practice committee, said: 'The results also highlight that, while the majority of GPs support properly funded and resourced extended hours, they question the benefit to patients of a politically driven demand to open all practices seven days a week. We need politicians of all parties to stop playing games with the NHS by making glib promises to voters which ignore the reality that many GP practices are close to breaking point.'