6 days ago
Study warns one third of UK family doctors could leave over burnout
LONDON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Up to one-third of Britain's family doctors, the backbone of the National Health Service (NHS), may consider leaving direct patient care within five years, mainly due to burnout and job dissatisfaction, according to a University of Manchester study on Tuesday.
The research, published in Frontiers in Public Health and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research's School of Primary Care Research and the Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration, is the first to identify how General Practitioners (GPs) in England are becoming less engaged with their work, often leading to decisions to quit patient care.
Based on a survey of 351 GPs from 57 practices, 27 percent reported burnout symptoms, 33 percent expressed moderate to high intention to leave, 20 percent had low job satisfaction, and 40 percent reported poor work-life balance. A quarter said they had worked while 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 wellbeing, adding that improving work-life balance and reducing presenteeism could be effective early measures to retain doctors.
