ALMOST two-thirds of doctors feel less "empowered" than they did before the Government's health reforms, a new poll suggests.

Ministers said the Health and Social Care Act would put doctors in the driving seat, but only two months after its implementation, 65% of doctors surveyed across the UK feel less empowered at work than they did a year ago.

Many practitioners questioned by the British Medical Association (BMA) who wanted to make improvements to patient services felt hindered.

Two-thirds said they wanted to make changes or improvements in the past year but were unable to, with red tape and a lack of capacity listed as the top barriers for making enhancements.

The figures, released at the start of the BMA's annual representative meeting in Edinburgh, also found that of the 1000 doctors surveyed many were feeling the strains of the job, with 81% describing pressure at work as high.

Out of those surveyed, GPs reported the highest level of pressure, the poll found.

Dr Brian Keighley, chairman of the BMA in Scotland, said: "It is encouraging that despite the relentless pressure they face on a day-to-day basis, many doctors remain enthusiastic and motivated about working in the NHS.

"But it is of great concern that doctors who want to drive changes to improve patient care or make services more efficient, feel there are barriers prohibiting that.

"Doctors work at the front line of the NHS and should be encouraged and supported, not left to fight their way through the bureaucracy that serves as a barrier to change for the better."