MPs attack doctors' pay rises

LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors have raked in "eye-watering" pay rises while doing less work thanks to a new government contract designed to improve patient care, an influential group of MPs said in a report on Thursday.

The Public Accounts Committee said the reforms sent budgets soaring, but failed to improve services in deprived areas and did not lead to longer opening hours at surgeries.

"Partners in GP practices are now putting in less time and their productivity has decreased," said Committee Chairman Edward Leigh. "Only their pay is burgeoning, having increased on average by an eye-watering 58 percent since 2003."

The government negotiated new contracts with family doctors to try to stop GPs leaving the system and to improve access for patients as part of a key Labour pledge to improve the NHS.

However, the changes have cost far more than expected. Over the first three years, the bill was 1.8 billion pounds higher than originally planned.

Average salaries for GPs rose from 73,000 pounds in 2002-03 to 114,000 pounds in 2005-06, the report said. Hours worked each week dropped by seven hours during the same period.

Morale has also fallen due to critical media coverage and an emphasis on cost-cutting and targets, rather than quality of care, the MPs said, citing the British Medical Association.

However, the new contracts have succeed in raising the number of doctors in the system and have improved the consistency of care for long-term illnesses, the MPs noted.

The committee recommended that NHS bosses do more to measure doctors' work. They should demand more annual feedback from GPs on how they have been more productive.