GPs should be allowed a standard consultation time with patients of 15 minutes – rather than ten minutes, campaigners said yesterday.

The proposal is set to form the basis of talks between GP leaders and the government over the future of primary care.

The British Medical Association’s GP committee also wants doctors to be able to limit their consultations to 25 a day. It says that some doctors see 60 patients a day.

The BMA shelved plans earlier this month to consult GPs on mass resignations after NHS England agreed to talks on its proposals.

Its latest proposals say that practices should consider new ways of organising, such as using primary care hubs and pooling resources and services between practices.

Dr Brian Balmer, from the committee, said: “Many GPs are being forced to truncate care into an inadequate time frame and deliver an unsafe number of consultations, seeing in some cases 40 to 60 patients a day. This is well above the 25 consultations per day which is the recommended level based on many other EU countries.

“We need a new approach that shakes up the way patients get their care from their local GP practice. The consultation time needs to increase to fifteen minutes with the government providing on its promised funding to make this work. As part of the package, more GPs must be put in front of patients so that the number of consultations per GP a day falls to a sustainable level.

“General practice cannot be allowed to continue being run into the ground: it’s time for positive change that gives patients the care they deserve.”