UK GPs among the most stressed compared to 10 other countries

The poll was carried out in the first half of 2019 by the Commonwealth Fund and received responses from 13,200 primary care physicians in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

About 60 per cent of UK GPs said the found their job ‘very stressful’ or ‘extremely stressful’ and only 39 per cent of UK GPs felt ‘extremely satisfied with practicing medicine’.

Only Sweden’s doctors said they were more stressed, and in France, the lowest number of practitioners were satisfied with their jobs.

The poll also shows that GPs in the UK were the least satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their patients, with the average length of appointments in the UK being 11 minutes compared to 19 minutes in other countries.

Dr Richard Vautrey, British Medical Association Committee Chair, said: “It’s been clear for some time now that the standard 10-minute appointment is not long enough to give many patients the care they need. GPs want to be able to deliver holistic care, but we need extra time coupled with appropriate resources to do this. It’s vital that we are given access to the investment and resources we need to ensure all patients are able to get the care they need and deserve.”

However, the survey found that the UK was the international leader in the use of electronic medical records and GPs in the UK are most likely to review data to improve patient care.