Research

New ComRes poll

A new poll has found that Lord Darzi should be radical if his review is to win back the support of the medical profession for the Government. The online poll, commissioned by the independent think tank Reform and carried out by the polling company ComRes, has found that only five per cent of GPs think that the current structure of regulation helps them in making decisions in the best interests of patients. Strikingly, nearly half of GPs support a fundamental shift in the funding of the NHS towards the Continental model of compulsory health insurance.

On the eve of the Darzi review, the poll shows that doctors are deeply disillusioned as a profession. Asked to review their experience as GPs since qualification, 97 per cent report that bureaucracy has risen and 74 per cent report that their job satisfaction has fallen.

The poll also finds that nearly four in five GPs support top-up payments and less than one in five are against. Such a high level of support among doctors greatly increases the likelihood that Professor Mike Richards will approve top-up payments at the end of his current review of the policy for the Department of Health.

The highlights of the poll are as follows:

- 79 per cent of GPs believe patients should be able to top-up their NHS care with private treatment. Only 18 per cent support the current system where patients must pay for all their care themselves if they choose to pay extra for a drug or treatment.

- 63 per cent of GPs feel the current regulatory framework hinders their ability to make the best decision in the interests of patients, with only 5 per cent believing it helps.

- 97 per cent of GPs say the degree of bureaucracy within the NHS has “increased a lot” or has “increased somewhat” since they qualified.

- 58 per cent believe the degree of bureaucracy increased most within the last 5 years. This would coincide with the new GMS contract (which introduced the QOF) that was negotiated in 2003 and introduced in April 2004.

- 48 per cent support the current, solely tax-payer funded system; whereas 45 per cent support moving to a more continental, compulsory health insurance model.

- 60 per cent of GPs rate their overall satisfaction of working within the NHS as either “low” or “very low”. This compares to slightly over a third (36 per cent) who rate it as high.

- 74 per cent say their satisfaction level had dropped since they qualified as a GP.

- Only 13 per cent of GPs are satisfied with the way their profession is currently led, with 80per cent feeling better leadership is required.

Andrew Haldenby, Director of Reform, said: “One of the aims of Lord Darzi’s review was to win back support among doctors for the Government’s policies. The evidence suggests that he should be bold if he is to succeed. Most doctors think that the new GP contract has increased bureaucracy. Nearly half of doctors would support a Continental-style funding system over the status quo.”

Karol Sikora, a cancer specialist and member of the independent doctors’ group Doctors for Reform, said: “It’s quite remarkable that the vast majority of GPs believe in top-up. People do it in every other walk of life so why not healthcare? The NHS is not a religion with enshrined founding values. It’s a simple transactional system for medical care. We’ve all paid the insurance premium with our taxes. We need to incentivise for efficiency and provide the freedom for people to contribute to their care as well. Otherwise the aging population, expensive innovation and insatiable demand will result in financial meltdown.”

Christoph Lees, another member of Doctors for Reform and an NHS obstetrician, said: “Over half GPs favour funding the NHS in a different way, and three quarters would allow patients to ‘top up’ their care. This suggests that Ministers should look seriously at long term solutions to paying for the country's healthcare rather than simply assuming more money is the answer. It is terribly disappointing that with extra resourcing for the NHS, GPs have found themselves so weighed down with extra bureaucracy, hindering rather than improving their ability to do their best for the patient in front of them.”

For further information, please call Andrew Haldenby on 020 7799 6699 or 07932 656847.

Ends

Notes for Editors

1 ComRes interviewed 201 GB GPs by an online survey on 26th June 2008. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

2. Reform is an independent, non-party think tank whose mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.

3. Doctors for Reform is an independent, non-party group which believes that the time has come to look at new ways to supply and fund healthcare. It is supported by the independent non-party think tank Reform.