Carrie MacEwen GMC news for doctors August 2024
The conditions that doctors work in have a material impact on the care they’re able to provide. Today we’re publishing our annual report on doctors’ workplace experiences, and the results paint a picture of a profession under pressure.
Despite difficult conditions, doctors continue to provide first class care for their patients. However, workloads are high and professional satisfaction is low. A third of doctors are struggling and feel unable to cope. 41% report having seen patient safety compromised.
In response, doctors are taking matters into their own hands. Many are reducing their hours and declining additional work. This, in turn, increases the pressure on those who remain.
While these issues are present across all doctor groups, they’re especially acute amongst certain cohorts.
Doctors in training are more likely to be at high risk of burnout, while trainers report being more dissatisfied than non-trainers. GPs continue to be the least likely to be satisfied and the most likely to be struggling with their workload. And disabled doctors are worse off than non-disabled doctors across multiple measures.
Having a good supply of doctors is part of the solution, but it’s not the whole story.
Our data show that while overall workforce numbers have increased in recent years, this has not led to improvements in doctors’ experiences. It is not enough to simply grow the workforce if large numbers of staff within it feel overburdened and undervalued. The answer is not simply to employ more doctors, but to do better at looking after the ones we already have.
From rota design, to rest facilities, there are steps that can be taken today to improve doctors’ working lives. That’s why we’re sharing these findings with stakeholders across the system and pushing them to turn insight into action.
Good patient care is impossible without a motivated and supported workforce to deliver it. Health services rise and fall on the strength of their teams and, right now, they’re struggling. Without the foundations of compassion, respect and fairness we cannot improve doctors’ working lives and we cannot improve patient outcomes. That’s why the focus now must be on fixing the fundamentals.