LONDON, Aug 13 (Bernama-Xinhua) — As many as one-third of Britain’s family doctors, a backbone of the National Health Service (NHS), may consider leaving direct patient care within five years, largely due to burnout and job dissatisfaction, according to a University of Manchester study released on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.
The study, aimed at identifying how General Practitioners (GPs) in England are becoming less engaged with their work, often leading to decisions to quit patient care, was published in Frontiers in Public Health and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s School of Primary Care Research along with the Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration.
Based on a survey of 351 GPs from 57 practices, 27 per cent reported burnout symptoms, 33 per cent expressed moderate to high intention to leave, 20 per cent had low job satisfaction, and 40 per cent reported poor work-life balance. Around 25 per cent said they had worked despite being unwell in the past year.
Lead author Christos Grigoroglou said job dissatisfaction and burnout were strong signals that GPs were at high risk of quitting, while poor work-life balance and working while unwell were also contributing factors. “There is an urgent need to address these issues if we are to improve GP retention,” he said.
Co-author Maria Panagioti stressed that retention policies should focus on enhancing job satisfaction and well-being, adding that improving work-life balance and reducing presenteeism could be effective early steps to retain doctors in the profession.
–BERNAMA-XINHUA