A DOCTORS' leader says morale has been affected by a "concerted attack" on GPs as a new survey shows one in six is thinking of changing career.

The British Medical Association poll of 11,000 GPs across the UK found more than half felt morale had got worse in the last five years.

Nearly two-thirds believed changes to the NHS over the last decade had made it harder to practise good medicine and only half would recommend a career as a GP to an undergraduate.

Dorset GP and local BMA representative Dr Tom McKinstry said: "GPs are being made to feel that we are responsible for the health service's funding issues because of our income. If every GP got £1 million a year, it would still be a drop in the ocean compared to what's spent on computer systems.

"Every time we see anything from the government it seems to be anti-GP. The average GP already works 56 hours a week, but they want us to open longer hours.

"We can't deliver the service the way we want to because of interference, budget constraints and targets for the sake of targets. The government doesn't listen to us as regards directing money into clinical care of patients, and doesn't seem to recognise that waiting lists should be based on clinical priorities. Money seems to be thrown at the wrong things."

Dr McKinstry pointed out that under the old GP contract, doctors were paid about 50p an hour for working out of hours. The new contract allowed them to opt out.

And although salaries as high as £250,000 a year had been quoted, most GPs were getting far less. "The people getting loads of money are doing so because they are working as businessmen," he said.

He also accused the government of "trying to generate a consultant service on the cheap" by its plans to use GPs with special interests to treat patients in the community.