Majority of GPs blame NPfIT for worsening morale

Almost three out of four GPs blame the National Programme for IT for worsening their morale in the last year, according to a survey of almost 500 family doctors.

The poll of 477 GPs conducted by Medix and Doctor magazine found that more than half of GPs said their morale had worsened in the past year with most blaming workload (76%), followed by NPfIT (74%) and central targets (67%).

The survey follows on from a poll conducted by Medix and co-sponsored by EHI Primary Care in November last year which found that only 35% of GPs rated NPfIT as an important priority for the NHS compared to 67% four years ago.

The Medix/Doctor survey which also questioned almost 1000 doctors in secondary care found that GPs are the group of the clinicians who feel the most badly affected by NPfIT. A total of 36% of GPs said NPfIT had worsened their morale with a further 38% blaming it for “significantly worsening “ morale compared to figures of 31|% (worsened) and 26% (significantly worsened) for the entire survey group of 1437 doctors.

One GP commented: “Patient Choice and "Choose and Book" have had a major negative impact. They have led to a two-tier system.”

Another said: “The massive waste of resources to achieve almost no potential benefit in Choose and Book is breathtaking.”