The new contract was brought in to help recruit more GPs in Wales Your views

The Welsh assembly's audit committee said a new GP contract, which included a 25% pay rise, had not brought enough improvements for patients.

In particular, the AMs highlighted the problem many still have in getting an appointment with their local GP.

The Welsh Assembly Government said it would consider the report's findings.

The new GP contract, which was introduced in 2004, cost the NHS in Wales an extra �131m in 2005-06 or 44% more than the old contract.

People get frustrated because they can't get an appointment Vanessa Bourne, of the Patients' Association

It gave doctors a pay rise - the average GP in Wales is now understood to earn up to �100,000 - and reduced their working hours.

The goal was to improve the service patients received.

But David Melding AM, chairman of the audit committee, said: "The new contract has delivered some benefits for patients in Wales, but more needs to be done to ensure that all the potential benefits are realised, or it will not represent value for money."

'Spiralling workload'

The report also said the "rigour and quality" of local health board (LHB) checks on GP practices to ensure they were meeting targets was "variable" across the country.

It recommended the assembly government issued guidelines to LHBs on checks to improve patient access.

Despite the problems, the report said the new contract had delivered some improvements, including the fact investment in premises was starting to increase and more specialised services were being brought closer to patients' homes.

Dr David Bailey, chairman of the BMA's Welsh GP Committee, said the new contract was brought in "because of a widespread recognition that GPs had fallen behind other professions and that recruitment was down as a consequence of this and of spiralling workload".

He added: "If you take the Welsh Assembly Government's own patient access survey findings, overall, 81% of Welsh patients say they are able to access their GPs service within the Welsh Assembly Government's own 24-hour target."

'Benefits to patients'

Vanessa Bourne, of the Patients' Association, a charity which supports patients, said she hoped the report would prompt health minister Edwina Hart into action.

"The GPs are being paid more for doing less. On the other hand you have to attract GPs to do the job," she said.

"But it does not seem patients are getting the benefit of this as much as the GPs."

Ms Bourne, who lives in Lampeter, said getting an appointment was a huge problem for many people who had contacted her.

"People get frustrated because they can't get an appointment," she said.

"You have some people who have to take half a day off work to even make an appointment, let alone see the GP."

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said the health minister welcomed the report and would carefully consider its findings.

He said the contract has brought benefits to patients and GPs and it was "important that this momentum is maintained" to maximise the significant investment made by the assembly government.