GP’s overall job satisfaction is now at its lowest since 2001, before the new GP contract was introduced, the Eighth National GP Worklife Survey has revealed.
The survey of 2,611 GPs – carried out by Manchester University, used a seven-point scale, where one equals ‘extremely dissatisfied’ and seven equals ‘extremely satisfied’. The average GP satisfaction has declined from 4.5 points in 2012 to 4.1 points in 2015.
The previous survey, carried out in 2012, showed that stress was at an all-time high, however the survey carried out this year shows a further increase in GP stress.
The proportion of GPs stating that they intend to quit medical work in the next five years has risen from 31.2% in 2012 to 35.3% in 2015, an increase in both the over and under 50s.
The average satisfaction for working hours has now fallen below neutral into the ‘dissatisfied’ portion of the scale, for the first time since 2004.
Interestingly, the change in the average satisfaction that GPs report for their working hours has occurred even though the reported hours worked and the reported content of those hours has not changed very much since the previous survey.
Average hours worked per week by cross-sectional respondents to the survey have remained largely unchanged between 2012 (41.7 hours) and 2015 (41.4 hours).
See the full findings here
