Today I'm going to be chatting to you about an issue that's quite common in the GP world and that's the overworked GP, or GPs that are feeling a bit burned out by the end of the week. I know there's a lot of debate and a lot of discussion in the industry about this. All I'm trying to do today is just cover off some examples that we've heard working with our doctors and GPs that we work with here at HealthcareLink.
This year, more and more we've been having conversations with GPs who are feeling overworked and there are a number of factors for this. Some of the examples are based on, say the rostering system at the practice. So it could be a team of four or five GPs that need to be rostered to work day hours, sometimes evenings, sometimes weekends as well.
To be frank, the client can really only roster the GPs that put up their hand to be part of that rostering system. But when we have a couple of doctors opting out, each week the same doctors are having to do more and more regular shifts. Due to this they are now looking for part-time work elsewhere. What they're opting to do is possibly three days where they are, but two days elsewhere closer to home or just in a practice that allows them to take flexible hours and just work around their personal life schedule.
If a practice can encourage everyone in the team to opt in and just take a little bit of effort to help the team out, everybody at the practice can work towards a sort of a work-life balance through the end of the week.
Another issue is the practice culture. GPs are essentially engaged as independent contractors so they are working for themselves but as part of a larger team - a team of nurses, allied health, practice managers and reception staff.
It would be good to create a culture that has what we talked about before so the fair rostering system but also encouraging fortnightly or monthly clinical meetings to have a discussion about patient cases or difficult cases that they might be dealing with.
Having encouraging open communications, so bring anything you feel you want to discuss to the practice manager or the principal GP of that practice.
To summarize an effective, supportive and fair environment aids in the reduction of GP burn out or feeling overworked through the week. Some of the workplaces in our Best Employer Awards have an open door communication policy.
How are you working within your practices to provide support to your GPs? Let us know what you do to engage them more and make them feel supported through the week. Comment below. We'd love to hear! This is Api, talking to you from HealthcareLink.
