The British Medical Association issued new recommendations for general practitioners in the U.K. that would lengthen appointments to 15 minutes and limit the number of patients a physician sees per day, according to a report from the Independent.
Current appointments last just 10 minutes and some physicians squeeze in up to 60 patients per day. The BMA said this practice is running physicians "into the ground," and does not allow for enough time to address complex health issues, according to the report.
To assist with this recommendation, the physician's union also suggested establishing central hubs for local practices to help manage patient demand.
An NHS England spokesman provided the Independent with the following comment: "How long to allocate to individual patient appointments is at the discretion of individual GP practices, based on patient need, and there are no national limits suggesting 10 minutes should be the norm."
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