Some GPs say they are undertaking 100 consultations a day – while the average doctor undertakes 41 a day, according to a survey published today.

Senior GPs said the findings understated the pressures on primary care – as patients are also presenting with increasingly complex conditions.

Some 20% of GPs reported undertaking more than 50 consultations a day, according to the survey of 900 GPs conducted by Pulse magazine. The magazine says international guidelines suggest doctors should see no more than 25 patients a day.

The Royal College of GPs said the pressure was causing serious ill-health to many doctors. Some 1,000 doctors are on the books of a new GP health service launched last year.

Chair Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said: “It is not necessarily the number of consultations we are making on a daily basis, it’s the content of those consultations and our patients are increasingly presenting with more complex, chronic conditions – many of which require much longer than the standard ten-minute consultation.

“As well as clinical work, we have other urgent duties, such as prescription reviews, hospital letters, ensuring records are up to date – and there is a limit beyond which we worry that we are not practising safely.

“Our workload needs to be addressed – it has risen at least 16% over the last seven years, yet the share of the overall NHS budget general practice receives is less than it was a decade ago, and our workforce has not risen at pace with demand.”