Most family doctors believe their workload is too heavy and patients are suffering, a study released this morning claims.
Nearly 60 per cent said there was too much work, and 85 per cent believe they could provide better patient care if they were under less pressure.
The Department of General Practice at University College Dublin, which conducted the survey, said: "Over the last 18 years it has become apparent that small areas with higher levels of social and economic deprivation have more adverse health outcomes - higher levels of chronic disease, higher mortality rates, and GPs practising in these areas have more out-of-hours work and increased consultation rates.
"Possibly the most worrying finding to emerge from this study is that 59 per cent subjectively report their workload as being too heavy with 85 per cent reporting they could improve the quality of care they provide if it was less," said the report in the Irish Medical Journal.
More than half of those questioned said they were too busy to keep up extra medical education to improve their skills.
PA