AN outbreak of Sars in the UK would paralyse medical practice, according to a Worcestershire consultant.

Consultant gastroenterologist Barry Jones expressed his concerns to BMA News, the British Medical Association magazine, saying the Government approach had been "pathetically weak."

"If Sars affects even a few people in an average hospital catchment area, it will paralyse routine medical and surgical practice," he said.

"Do not believe that our ITUs and high-dependency units can cope or that other patients would be able to continue using these resources."

In a survey carried out by the magazine, more than half of doctors said they did not feel sufficiently prepared to deal with an outbreak of Sars.

The survey also found that 46 per cent of the doctors did not believe the Government had acted strongly enough to deal with the threat of Sars to the UK.

Seventy-three per cent of the panel thought it should be made a notifiable disease, although some doctors felt the current system would not be up to the job.

Last month, South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust's consultant in communicable disease control, Dr David Kirrage, said he was confident that health care workers were very aware of Sars.

He said he wanted to reassure the public that adequate measures were in place to deal with the disease properly.

"I'm checking the latest information on a daily basis," he said. "It's a low risk, and it's not as widespread as people might believe."