The professional resilience of mid-career General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK: a qualitative study
Background: With a continued crisis of increasing workload and reduced workforce in General Practice, supporting resilience is a key strategy for sustaining the profession for the future. Aim: How do GPs perceive professional resilience and what workplace factors influence it? Design and setting: A UK based qualitative study of the perspectives of GPs currently practicing in the UK with least five years’ experience after completion of GP training. Method: Participants were recruited using convenience sampling, including social media forums and underwent semi-structured interviews (n = 27). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Participants offered definitions of and influences on resilience which largely fit with existing research but in addition may result in GPs being perceived as obstructive, or that resilience may be a ‘surface act’. GPs agree that the current focus on methods of improving resilience does help support them but there is significantly more to be done in this field. Social media activity aiming at GP support may be counterproductive. Reduction of clinical working hours is a common strategy to improve resilience. Conclusion: That GPs feel to improve resilience they need to work fewer clinical hours may have huge implications for a workforce already in crisis; and ultimately for the healthcare of the UK population. Urgent research is needed to formulate a bespoke assessment for measuring GP resilience to assess potential interventions and identify GPs at risk of mental ill-health or leaving the profession.