We British are a stoic lot. No matter the weather or the odd ache or pain, we tend to respond with a shrug of the shoulders and words like "mustn't grumble".

Well, there is only so much stoicism I can display - and I have a feeling my words will ring true with thousands of smaller employers across the land.

Being constantly told that small and medium sized companies are the back-bone of the nation, it is about time those of us who run such businesses stood up straight to be counted.

We are the ones who suffer most when it comes to illthought Government policies. Take GP surgery waiting targets.

During the General Election, Tony Blair was " astonished" when a lady in the BBC Question Time audience told the PM that some GP surgeries were refusing to set appointments more than two days in advance because to do so would result in practices failing to meet Government targets.

It never was easy running a business but it becomes even more difficult if staff are unable to plan when they might visit their GP.

As an enlightened employer myself, and one that goes well beyond the letter of the law (as you would expect from a matrimonial law firm) we endeavour to meet the personal and private needs of our staff. But try as they might, if staff cannot get a pre-planned appointment for a non-urgent item with their GP, then their only alternative is to telephone on the day and say - 'I'm off to the doctor'.

Not great planning for them and neither is it for business.

But, of course, the aggravation doesn't stop there.

Their appointment may well last little more time than it takes to exchange a few pleasantries but because they work in Birmingham city centre but live in Lichfield or Sutton Coldfield or Solihull, this ten minute appointment turns into a two to three hour absence.

In other countries, of course, it is different. In many US cities a visit to the doctor might simply mean stepping in the elevator and descending from your thirtieth floor office to the GP/dentist or whatever on the first floor. An eminently sensible way to go about things.

In the good old days, when there were no targets to meet, if you were ill, your friendly doctor would make a personal visit. In those days, being registered with a GP close to your home made eminent sense. But when was the last time a GP visited you in your house?

I have three suggestions. The first of these is to acknowledge that lifestyles are changing and that many spend more of their daytime at their place of work than they do at home. So enable them to register with a GP near their place of work.

The second is to develop city centre GP practices that meet the needs of those working in the city and the increasing number who live in the city centre itself.

My third suggestion is to scrap the existing system so urgent cases are seen urgently and those with nonurgent matters seen within, say, five days - with no penalty to the GP surgery.

Neither is this grumble a matter of inconvenience versus convenience.

Figures published in the past two weeks reveal that workplace absence cost the UK £12.2 billion in 2004. The CBI-AXA survey showed that absence cost £ 495 per employee in 2004 compared with £475 per employee in the previous year's survey.

How many of those absences are due to having to take at least half a day to visit a GP surgery is not clear.

Those looking for a dentist are equally at risk. According to the Consumers Association, half of England's dentists cannot see unregistered patients urgently for toothache within 24 hours, even privately.

In one instance, a pregnant woman suffered severe toothache for a week. She was unable to get an appointment and when she rang NHS Direct they said the nearest NHS dentist was 48 miles away.

It is not just the patient suffering pain and inconvenience but the employer and the economy as well.

* Diane Benussi is senior partner of Benussi & Co