Project 832 | The impact of continuity of care on GP job satisfaction

Exploring the impact of continuity of care on GP job satisfaction.

Aim

A lot of research has looked at the impact of patients seeing the same GP over time (called relational continuity of care), finding that continuity of care in general practice leads to better patient outcomes. However, there has been no research looking at the impact of continuity of care on GPs’ job satisfaction. We want to find out whether there is a relationship between GPs’ job satisfaction and the extent to which they see the same patients over time.

The Challenge

The government plans to deliver more healthcare in communities and to focus more on preventing future health problems. As the ‘front door’ to the NHS, general practices will play a crucial role in these plans, but they are already facing extreme workload pressures, with low job satisfaction and increased rates of GPs leaving. This threatens the ability to maintain services and achieve these aims.
One factor that influences GP job satisfaction is a feeling of connection with patients. Continuity of care is a potentially important element of this doctor-patient relationship. While we know that continuity leads to better patient outcomes, there is little understanding of how continuity impacts GPs’ job pressures and their overall job satisfaction.

What we will do

We will explore the relationship between GPs’ job satisfaction and continuity of care in two stages. Firstly, we will use national survey data on patient experiences and GP work life satisfaction to explore the association between GP satisfaction and continuity of care. These analyses will also consider the personal and practice factors that may affect this relationship. To understand this further, in a second stage, we will speak to groups of GPs to understand their experiences of continuity of care and identify sources of practical support for practices.
To ensure our research captures the lived experiences of patients and GPs, we will form a patient panel and a GP panel, who will meet three times during the project to inform the design, delivery and interpretation of findings from the research, as well as help to plan how these findings are shared.