Burnout in general practitioners: a systematic review of relationships with patient safety and a feasibility study of the measurement of burnout

Background

General practitioners (GPs) are the main point of contact for patients in primary care. More than one third of GPs at some point in their lives feel emotionally exhausted, have difficulties in showing empathy and undervalue their achievements (this is called ‘burnout’). Burnout has serious consequences for GPs themselves such as poor mental health, job turnover and early retirement and may also lead to less appropriate and safe care for patients.

Aims

Although recent studies suggest that burnout is largely a consequence of workplace problems, we do not know how to prevent burnout in GPs. A substantial programme of research is needed to understand this complex issue. Our initial pilot has two main aims:

to understand whether GPs suffering from ‘burn-out’ are more likely to provide less appropriate and safe care to patients
to explore what research methods we can use to understand and subsequently prevent burnout in GPs
Methods: We will develop a methodological summary of the available literature around GP burnout and patient safety (called a ‘systematic review’).

We will briefly interview and give questionnaires to GPs working in 10 general practices at Manchester to explore whether GPs find assessing burnout acceptable and what workplace factors might lead to burnt out GPs. This study will contribute to the development of a substantial programme of research to identify, prevent and manage burnout in GPs and promote resilience.