Among primary care physicians in ten high-income countries, British general practitioners (GPs) were the most likely to feel stressed out in 2022, most likely to change careers in the near future, and least likely to meet patients in person, survey results show.
It’s also the highest proportion among the ten countries surveyed, including Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Australia, France, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
British GPs were also the most likely to be considering changing their career in the near future. Among the 71 percent of burnt out GPs, more than a third (35 percent) said they planned to stop seeing patients regularly in the next one to three years, compared to 23 percent among those who felt less stressed.
Within the UK, 34 percent of GPs in Scotland and 32 percent of GPs in England were planning to stop seeing patients regularly, compared to 15 percent in Northern Ireland.
Among GPs aged 55 and older in the UK, more than two-thirds were planning to stop seeing patients regularly, while only 15 percent of the under-35s planned to do the same.
German GPs were the second most stressed in 2022, with 68 percent of them finding the job to be “extremely stressful” or “very stressful.” Dutch GPs were the least likely to feel very stressed.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, British GPs were the second most likely (60 percent) to feel “extremely stressful” or “very stressful,” after their Swedish counterparts, according to 2019 figures.
All countries had a majority of GPs reporting higher workloads than before the pandemic, and more than half of the respondents in most countries believed the quality of care their patients received deteriorated since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the UK, half of the GPs thought the quality of patient care worsened after the pandemic and 14 percent thought it improved.
“But the survey also illustrates some of the core strengths of general practice in the UK, including a high proportion of GPs feeling well prepared to manage care for patients with complex needs, and strong performance compared with other countries in use of data to inform care,” the study said.
British GPs were also the most likely to provide remote service instead of in-person appointments at the time of the survey, with GPs in England reporting around 60 percent of remote appointments.
Researchers noted that the differences may be affected by GP and patient preferences, policy contexts, COVID-19 rates, and other factors.
The study, conducted by the U.S. health foundation the Commonwealth Fund and British charity The Health Foundation, questioned 9,526 primary care physicians, around one in ten (1,010) of whom were based in the UK.
It was carried out in different months between February and September 2022. In the UK, fieldwork was conducted between February and May 2022, during the Omicron wave of COVID-19 infections.
Job satisfaction was also falling in the UK. In 2012, GPs in the UK were among the most satisfied, but in 2022, they were the least happy among the ten countries, with just under a quarter (24 percent) reporting being “extremely” or “very satisfied” with practising medicine, the study said.
In comparison, just more than a quarter French GPs who answered the survey said they were “extremely” or “very satisfied” with practising medicine, while Swiss and Swedish GPs were the most satisfied.
GPs in the UK are commissioned by the National Health Service (NHS) to provide primary care in local areas.
Hugh Alderwick, director of Policy at the Health Foundation, said the COVID-19 pandemic took “a heavy toll” on UK GPs, “combined with longer-run challenges including staff gaps and rising workload.”
“'The NHS is not the only health system under pressure, but the experience of GPs in the UK should ring alarm bells for government. General practice is the foundation of the NHS, yet GPs are telling us loud and clear that these foundations are creaking,” he said.
Citing the plummeting job satisfaction rate among GPs and the fact that many were considering leaving their jobs, Alderwick called on the government to take “decisive policy action” including “to boost GP capacity, reduce workload, and make use of wider primary care staff.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The number of doctors in general practice rose by over 400 in 2022 and is more than 2,000 higher than 2019 with record numbers in training.
“We are aware of the pressures facing GPs and we have recruited over 25,000 additional members of staff including pharmacists, physiotherapists, and paramedics, who are providing care directly to patients or supporting doctors and nurses to do so.
“We will announce further support soon with our primary care recovery plan and, as mentioned in the Budget, our long-term workforce plans.”
