• More than 80 per cent of doctors worry about quality of care for elderly
• GPs blame an increasing workload and shrinking budgets

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 19:03 EST, 16 August 2013 | UPDATED: 19:03 EST, 16 August 2013

Most GPs fear they will not be able to give elderly patients proper care, leading doctors have said.

More than four in five think that ‘spiralling workloads and dwindling resources’ will make it increasingly hard to help vulnerable older people, a poll by the Royal College of General Practitioners found.

The college said general practice was at ‘breaking point’ and warned of ‘disastrous’ consequences.

The poll of 206 GPs also found 70 per cent are concerned that patients could face longer waiting times.

Four in five said they had ‘insufficient resources’ for high quality care and 47 per cent had cut back on the range of services they provided.

The RCGP called for an emergency investment like the £500million given to A&E departments last week.

Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the RCGP, said: ‘The results of our survey paint a bleak picture for patients, the profession and the future of general practice.

'GPs are grappling with a double whammy of spiralling workloads and dwindling resources, and big cracks are now starting to appear in the care and services that we can deliver for our patients.

‘We are particularly concerned about the effect this is having, and will continue to have, on waiting times for GP appointments.

'We fully understand that patients are already frustrated - and GPs are doing their best to improve access to appointments - but the profession is now at breaking point and we do not have the capacity to take on any more work without the extra funding and resources to back it up.

‘GPs currently make 90 per cent of patient contacts for only 9 per cent of the NHS budget in England.

'Some GPs are making up to 60 patient contacts in a single day, which is not safe, for patients or GPs.

‘We are working our hardest to make sure that patients are not affected but the status quo is no longer an option.

'We must have an emergency package of additional investment for general practice to protect GP services and protect our patients from even deeper cuts to their care and longer waiting times.

‘General practice is the most cost-effective and efficient arm of the health service - GPs keep the rest of the NHS stable and secure.

'Once general practice starts to crumble, the entire NHS will follow with disastrous consequences for our patients.

Ben Dyson, director of commissioning policy and primary care at NHS England, said: ‘We fully recognise that demands and patterns of healthcare are changing, and that this is increasing pressure on parts of the NHS.

‘That’s why we have recently published a ‘call to action’ about the future of general practice to help stimulate new, innovative approaches to providing services and ensuring every patient gets the care they need.

‘Our key aim is to enable GP practices both to provide more coordinated care for people with more complex needs and to provide more accessible and responsive service, in conjunction with partners in community and social care.’