GPs say they have become so preoccupied with targets they are failing to spot ...

GPs have warned they are too busy 'bean-counting' and paperwork that they are failing to spot deadly conditions.

Family doctors are seeing a stream of patients that leaves them feeling stuck on a 'treadmill', according to interviews with GPs.  

And they are so focused on performing to a certain criteria, they are neglecting other tasks, putting their patients' quality of care at risk.

The study comes amid an NHS crisis, with staff shortages and practice closures reaching record numbers.  

Mounting workloads over the past few years have left doctors feeling burnout and struggling to keep up, prompting many to retire early. 

GPs say they have become so preoccupied with reaching targets and 'bean-counting' they are failing to spot deadly conditions

GPs say they have become so preoccupied with reaching targets and 'bean-counting' they are failing to spot deadly conditions

Researchers from Barts Health NHS Trust and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry quizzed 12 doctors in depth about their career since around 1970.  

In the past 30 years or so, they said their work had become increasingly fast paced with too much work and responsibility, The Telegraph reports.

Many described a resentment and concern towards performance indicators in GP contracts, which were introduced more than a decade ago. 

Researchers said: 'The targets distorted the focus of clinical care on to a small number of conditions, turning clinical practice into a "treadmill".

'Several GPs gave examples of being so preoccupied with the "bean-counting" of targets that they were in danger of missing the obvious and serious.'

One GP described how he almost missed signs of a woman having a heart attack because he was 'half listening' to them while filling out forms.  

NHS GP SHORTAGE IS A 'DESPERATE SITUATION'

Official figures showed in February that 41 per cent of GPs – around 10,000 doctors – are 50 or over and are expected to quit within the next five to ten years. 

And 2.5 million patients are at risk of their local GP surgery closing because so many are relying on doctors who are close to retirement, it was last week revealed. 

At the same time, fewer young doctors are choosing to specialise as GPs and are opting for other career paths as surgeons or specialists. 

Many GPs are retiring in their 50s, moving abroad or leaving to work in the private sector, increasing the pressure on those who still work in the sector. 

Appointment waiting times are getting longer and more people are going to A&E for minor illnesses because they can't see a doctor. 

Despite an NHS a plan to recruit 5,000 extra GPs by 2021, numbers of family doctors are falling.   

And 762 GP practices across the UK could close within the next five years, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, last week told The Times: 'This is a desperate situation with potentially serious consequences for patients.'  

Another said they put so much effort into targets that they are neglecting the other things 'they could or should be doing'.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said there wasn't sufficient time or people to safely see the millions of patients a day.

She told The Telegraph: 'For some, these pressures have become too much, and many GPs are becoming increasingly burnt out and are putting their own health at risk by struggling on, while others

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