GPs deal with almost twice the safe number of patients every day, a damning study suggests.
The family doctors average 41.5 daily consultations, in person, online and over the phone.
But a leading European GP forum has recommended no more than 25 a day.
The crammed schedules mean consultations in England are among the shortest in the EU.
Britain’s top GP last night described the pressures as “relentless” and “way beyond” safe levels.
Around 5,000 more family doctors are needed to cope with surging demand.
A poll of 900 GPs by trade magazine Pulse found most deal with 31 to 50 patients a day.
Only 13 per cent deal with fewer than 30 patients and some as many as 100.
One GP, who left his job as a practice partner for a less pressured salaried role, said: “I felt I was at a risk of making mistakes and causing potential harm to my patients and my career.”
Patient demand is increasing at the same time GP numbers are falling. It means GPs will have to work an extra two hours a day to meet demand by 2022.
Patients in England average just 9 minutes 13 seconds with their GP while those in Sweden get 22 minutes 30 seconds a time.
GPs can spend a day processing letters, test results, repeat prescriptions and referrals for five times as many patients as they see.
Dr Mary McCarthy, a GP in Shropshire and vice president of the European Union of GPs, around 25 appointments a day is considered “safe”.
She described the higher numbers of appointments in the UK as “pretty dreadful” and added: “The demand is fuelled partly because patients are pushed to the GP for any problem there is.”
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Many GPs and our teams are regularly working way beyond what could be considered safe for patients, and potentially jeopardising our own health and wellbeing.
“GPs expect to be busy, and we are making more consultations than ever before as we strive to deliver the best possible care to all our patients who need it.
“But the workload at the moment is relentless and it’s taking its toll.
“As well as clinical work, we have other urgent duties, such as prescription reviews and hospital letters – and there is a limit beyond which we worry that we are not practising safely.
“Our workload needs to be addressed – it has risen at least 16 per cent over the last seven years, yet the share of the overall NHS budget general practice receives is less than it was a decade ago.”
The British Medical Association last year passed a motion calling for a set limit of GP-patient contacts per day, but did not vote on a number.
Dr Richard Vautrey, from the BMA’s GP committee, said; “We know that unmanageable and unsafe workload is the primary reason behind doctors leaving general practice.
“This is leading to serious issues, including practices closing to new patients and other surgeries closing entirely.
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“This workload pressure also means GPs are increasingly suffering from burnout and patients are being put at risk of unsafe care.
“The BMA has called for practices to be empowered to set their own capacity limits for safe working, which includes limiting the number of consultations per day.
“Fewer consultations would mean longer contact time with patients, leaving doctors better able to ensure safe, high-quality care, that many feel is not possible within the current 10-minute consultation.” A service offering medical support to GP in England was launched earlier this year and it already has more than 1,000 doctors on its books.
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