GP trainers and registrars have reported high levels of burnout in this year’s GMC survey.
A quarter of GP trainers (24%) said that every working hour is tiring for them:
- A quarter (24%) of GP trainers warned that they were not always able to use time allocated for training for the purpose intended – the GMC suggests this is due to systemic pressures.
- Likewise, a quarter (26%) of GP trainers did not know what support was available to them from the statutory education body for registrars who need extra support.
- And two thirds (66%) of GP trainers feel ‘somewhat’, highly or very highly burnt out because of their work.
The percentage of registrars at high risk of burnout has risen from 18% to 21% in the last 12 months and remained at 15% for GP trainers:
- GP registrars reported that pressures were affecting the level of support on offer in practice.
- One in ten warned that staff did not always treat each other with respect, and 15% said staff were not always treated fairly.
- One in fifteen (7%) disagreed that the working environment was a fully supportive one.
Dr Emma Runswick, BMA council deputy chair, called the scores ‘shameful’ and Prof Kamila Hawthorne, RCGP chair, said the College had been warning ‘for years’ that GPs were ‘stretched beyond healthy limits’.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, NASGP chair, wrote: “It really is not a great start to a career in general practice when you have a one in four chance of the very person overseeing your training feeling stressed and burnt out by the very profession you’re hoping to follow.
“Of course, one could argue that this may give our registrars a more realistic impression of the realities facing general practice as a partner or salaried GP.
“It goes without saying that simply more needs to be done to give trainers more support to undertake this absolutely crucial role.”
NASGP membership is free for registrars, and for three months after CCT.