The professional resilience of mid-career 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 into 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 mainly urban locations across the UK with ≥5 years’ experience after completion of GP training. METHOD: Participants were recruited using convenience sampling, which included social media forums, and underwent semi-structured interviews undertaken in May and June 2020 (n = 27). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants offered definitions of and influences on resilience that largely fit with existing research, but in addition, may result in the perception that GPs are obstructive, or that resilience may be a ‘surface act’. GPs agree that the current focus on methods of improving resilience does 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 health care of the UK population. Urgent research is needed to formulate a bespoke assessment for measuring GP resilience to assess potential interventions, and to identify GPs at risk of mental ill-health or leaving the profession.