Third of GPs ‘plan to quit their jobs’ in next five years
A THIRD of GPs plan to quit their job in the next five years, a survey shows.
And three in five over 50 plan to hang up their stethoscopes by 2026.
One in six under 50 already plan to leave the profession — blaming heavy workloads, demands from patients and “insufficient time to do the job justice”.
The annual GP Worklife survey of almost 2,300 family doctors in England found paperwork and long working hours were also causing stress.
More than eight out of ten GPs complained of coming under pressure from rising workloads and increased demands from patients.
The University of Manchester’s Prof Kath Checkland, who led the research, said: “It is not really surprising that job satisfaction has dropped among GPs during the pandemic but the survey provides some evidence about the areas of work they are finding more stressful, which may help in designing ways to support them.
"The fact that 16 per cent of GPs under the age of 50 are thinking about leaving their jobs is worrying and suggests that work is still needed to ensure general practice is sustainable for the long term.”
