Specialist doctors are "delivering", according to the results of a UK-wide survey of consultants.

According to the British Medical Association (BMA), the statistics demonstrate the consultant doctors' strong commitment to the NHS, and shows they are delivering service improvements and putting in long hours, often unpaid.

The BMA also said that over half of consultants are being hampered or prevented from bringing in worthwhile change or innovation to aid patient care, the survey indicates.

The survey of over 1,500 consultants in the UK shows that almost one in five (17%) consultants works more than 55 hours a week for the NHS (the average working week for consultants is 50 hours) and that two in five respondents (40%) do not believe their Programmed Activities – which form the basis of their payment for clinical work - accurately reflect their workload.

The survey also showed that over half of respondents (52%) believe that consultants are being prevented from innovating to support patient care.

Over seven in 10 (70%) also said they do not have adequate resources to support them and two thirds (66%) believe that consultant expansion is required in their departments to cope with future workload demands and changing work patterns.

Also, almost seven in 10 (69%) support the policy of providing patients with more than one choice of organisation for their treatment and 60% said newly established 'polyclinics' will not improve the quality of patient care.

At the same time, 83% fear that 'privatisation' of the NHS would be detrimental to patients and the NHS as a whole.

According to Dr Jonathan Fielden, Chairman of the BMA's Consultants’ Committee: "Consultants are innovators and enablers in the NHS, working over and above the call of duty for their patients.

"It is exasperating that bureaucracy and other barriers are still preventing them from doing even more for the NHS.

"The majority of senior doctors still lack very basic support, such as the right kind of IT or secretarial backing, which would release their talents and help them be even more effective for patients.

"There are real fears about government policies that embrace the private sector and commercialisation. Consultants are concerned that further private sector involvement, particularly the development of polyclinics, is bad news for patients and the NHS."

The survey results will form the basis of discussions at the forthcoming annual UK consultants' conference being held in London on 4th June, 2008.

Dr Fielden added: "My colleagues will be using the conference as an opportunity to voice concerns about government plans that clearly do not have the backing of the UK's most senior doctors. The profession has better ideas on how we can sustainably improve the service for patients.

"Issues like the Darzi review and polyclinics will be on the agenda, and feelings are running high," he concluded.

(BMcC/KMcA)