GPs are worried about further cuts in hospital beds, according to a survey by an independent NHS pressure group.

Nearly 400 GPs were quizzed and 75 per cent of those in the south-west, which covers Worcestershire, felt their workloads had increased because of the pressure to close beds.

Middlesex University's professor of medical sociology, Colin Francome, and the director of the NHS Support Federation, Paul Evans, carried out the survey.

Their findings for the south-west said 56 per cent of GPs questioned said that two or more of their patients had to be readmitted to hospital after being discharged last year.

Prof Francome said it was evident that GPs did not yet feel positive about the change to Primary Care Groups, with 68 per cent feeling administration work had risen since its introduction and only 22 per cent saying their experience had been positive.

According to the survey, only six per cent of GPs thought community care of the elderly had been implemented well with the figure at 5 per cent for mental health care.

The average time that a GP spends with a patient in the south west region is 8.2mins.