OVERWORKED GPs in Worcestershire say they are at "breaking point" and can no longer ensure their patients' safety.

Dr Simon Parkinson, secretary of the Worcestershire Local Medical Committee, said there is now a broad consensus among county GPs that the Government must take urgent action to prevent the crisis deepening further.

The Redditch GP, who has been based at St Stephen's surgery for almost 30 years, says under-pressure GPs are having to deal with surging patient numbers, ever-increasing red tape and being asked to treat patients with complex health problems in just 10-minute slots.

He said that the situation for GPs has become so dire that they are now saying "enough is enough", with many considering walking away entirely.

Dr Parkinson recently attended a special conference of local medical committees in London.

The Worcestershire LMC represents around 480 GPs and 66 county practices.

Dr Parkinson said: "We're saying 'enough is enough'. One of the options GPs are discussing is sending undated resignation letters to the Department of Health, threatening to quit. We voted to explore that.

"I didn't think we would ever get to that stage. It just shows how bad things have got. People are saying 'we will walk'. The guy who diagnoses your cancer could have been working since the crack of dawn and is completely exhausted and nobody worries about it? They should."

Dr Parkinson said the average number of consultations for a patient has risen from four per year to eight and that the system simply does not allow GPs time to do their job.

His Redditch surgery has two doctors on call on Monday to deal with increased demand and can get 100 patients asking for an emergency appointment before 11.30am.

He says this picture is being repeated in GP surgeries right across the county.

"Patients are saying they can't get an appointment. Well no, they can't. Every day GPs are getting blood results and x-rays to check," he said.

"It's not unusual to get 50 letters a day. As well as everything else I have to read them and action them. There is an almighty problem with bureaucracy."

He believes under-investment is part of the problem, with NHS spending on GP services falling from 11 per cent to seven per cent over the last decade.

Dr Parkinson added: "It costs more to insure your pet for a year than to fund a patient's GP care for that year.

"People are not getting seen quickly. They're being rushed. Most of us do 10 minute consultations. No GPs in other parts of Europe do 10 minute consultations. Ten minutes to sort out a a patient with heart failure and diabetes and kidney disease is a joke.

"This is now clinically unsafe."

Dr Parkinson said he and other GPs want to see better management of patient demand by the Government, a bigger slice of the overall NHS budget, a reduction of bureaucracy and better financial support for struggling GP practices to stop them closing.

He backs a BMA survey of 2,900 practices in England which shows that half of GP practices report patient care is deteriorating as GP services buckle under rising workload.