Trends and determinants of GPs’ work hours in the UK: a quantitative study

Abstract

BackgroundInformation on the hours of work of UK doctors is limited, and what exists relies on self-designed questionnaires in England.AimTo understand trends in the annual stock of physicians’ hours and their main determinants.Design and settingData were collected from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) between 1998 and 2020 under the End User License (EUL).MethodDescriptive and linear regression models of labour supply for doctors (pooled), GPs, and hospital doctors.ResultsBetween 1998 and 2020, while the headcount of doctors grew by 128.79% for hospital doctors and 45.29% for GPs, hours of work dropped by-20.80% for hospital doctors and –25.37% for GPs. Hence, the annual stock of hours grew by 81.20% for hospital doctors but by a modest 8.42% for GPs. Female doctors worked 8.68 fewer hours with GPs reporting the largest reduction (–11.84 hours with 95% CI=−13.32 to -10.35 and –6.89 with 95% CI=9.52 to -4.26 in the full specification). Family decisions are associated with a fall in doctors’ work hours and modest growth in the annual stock of hours. These determinants and overtime are drivers of part-time work.ConclusionDespite increasing the headcount of GPs, their hours of work dropped, generating a more steady and modest growth in their total annual stock of hours compared with hospital doctors. Female GPs work fewer hours than male GPs do and are more likely to work part-time for childbearing, marriage, and overtime work.

Long-term trends in the work hours of physicians in Canada

“…Comparable trends exist in the United States, 24 where average weekly physician hours dropped 7.6% between 2001 and 2021, predominantly because of the decline in hours worked by male physicians, 6 and in the United Kingdom, where average hours for general practitioners and hospital-based physicians dropped by 25% and 21%, respectively, between 1998 and 2020. 25 Similar observations in jurisdictions with different health care systems support our suggestion that these trends reflect a cultural shift, primarily among male physicians, toward more balanced home and work lives.…”

Associations between COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Overtime, Perceived Chronic Stress and Burnout Symptoms in German General Practitioners and Practice Personnel—A Prospective Study

“…A recent cross-sectional study among 3236 GPs from China found that 58.56% of the participants suffered from high levels of occupational stress with overtime being directly linked to the development of occupational stress [57]. Besides causing chronic stress, overtime also leads to an increased intention of GPs to work part-time according to a quantitative study from the UK: in the time period between 1998 and 2020, the working hours dropped by 25.37% [58]. Another cross-sectional survey with a sample of 320 German GPs identified out-of-hours care as an important stressor in everyday practice and a reason for lower job satisfaction.…”