London - The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, promised yesterday to cut red tape and boost the time family doctors are able to spend with patients.
Mr Blair announced 36 steps to beat bureaucracy, accepting that many hard-pressed family doctors feel overwhelmed by paperwork. "We are legislating for pharmacists to take on a bigger role. We shall be recruiting 1,000 graduates specially trained to help GPs deal with common mental health problems," he said in a speech to the Royal College of General Practitioners.