Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced a review by NHS England that will reduce the amount of bureaucracy faced by GPs, as well as the development of a number of tools that will help to reduce the “mountain” of inappropriate workload they are currently burdened with.

The Health Secretary said that the review has been commissioned in order to cut paperwork and free up GPs’ time for patients. He added that while the Government cannot change the growing numbers of older people who need the help of GPs, it could do something about the “inappropriate workload” that takes up too much of their time, although he pointed out that he had ‘already cut QOF by one third’ and reduced reporting on enhanced services.

As well as the review, the results of which will be reported this autumn, Mr Hunt said that NHS England will be developing practical tools to help GPs to better manage the paperwork that leads to “so much frustration and burn-out”.

In addition, the GP arm of the British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for their system of inspection to be scrapped, amid claims that they are under too much pressure to cope with the bureaucracy associated with it.

Both the BMA and the Royal College of GPs (RCGPs) has called for an overhaul of Ofsted-style ratings, accusing health watchdogs of “an overly bureaucratic” and “nitpicking” approach. Meanwhile, family doctors are saying that they are “on the brink of meltdown” because of a rising workload, with more patients to see and increasing red tape to battle.

In a letter to Mr Hunt, a spokeswoman for the RCGP, called for an “urgent review” of the system of regulation and the halt to all routine inspections until changes were made. She added that if
GPs could spend less time dealing with the inspection regime they could reduce waiting times to see a doctor.