Why doesn’t anyone want to be a GP: and what can we do about it?

Abbt, Naomi; Alderson, Steven

doi:10.3399/bjgp14x682345

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) estimated that 8000 more GPs are needed by 2020 [ 5 ] leading to the introduction of a UK target of 50 % of foundation trainees entering general practice by 2016 [ 6 ]. In the mid-1980s, general practice was the most popular career choice for medical students [ 7 ], but more recently it has become less popular than hospital medicine, with some students using it as a ‘failsafe’ or ‘backup’ career choice [ 8 ] with national applications for GP training decreasing by 6.2 % in 2015 than in the previous year [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of strategies to recruit and retain primary care doctors

Verma

Ford

Stuart

et al. 2016

BMC Health Serv Res

153

177

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BackgroundThere is a workforce crisis in primary care. Previous research has looked at the reasons underlying recruitment and retention problems, but little research has looked at what works to improve recruitment and retention. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate interventions and strategies used to recruit and retain primary care doctors internationally.MethodsA systematic review was undertaken. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and grey literature were searched from inception to January 2015. Articles assessing interventions aimed at recruiting or retaining doctors in high income countries, applicable to primary care doctors were included. No restrictions on language or year of publication. The first author screened all titles and abstracts and a second author screened 20 %. Data extraction was carried out by one author and checked by a second. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity.ResultsFifty-one studies assessing 42 interventions were retrieved. Interventions were categorised into thirteen groups: financial incentives (n = 11), recruiting rural students (n = 6), international recruitment (n = 4), rural or primary care focused undergraduate placements (n = 3), rural or underserved postgraduate training (n = 3), well-being or peer support initiatives (n = 3), marketing (n = 2), mixed interventions (n = 5), support for professional development or research (n = 5), retainer schemes (n = 4), re-entry schemes (n = 1), specialised recruiters or case managers (n = 2) and delayed partnerships (n = 2).Studies were of low methodological quality with no RCTs and only 15 studies with a comparison group. Weak evidence supported the use of postgraduate placements in underserved areas, undergraduate rural placements and recruiting students to medical school from rural areas. There was mixed evidence about financial incentives. A marketing campaign was associated with lower recruitment.ConclusionsThis is the first systematic review of interventions to improve recruitment and retention of primary care doctors. Although the evidence base for recruiting and care doctors is weak and more high quality research is needed, this review found evidence to support undergraduate and postgraduate placements in underserved areas, and selective recruitment of medical students. Other initiatives covered may have potential to improve recruitment and retention of primary care practitioners, but their effectiveness has not been established.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of strategies to recruit and retain primary care doctors

Verma

Ford

Stuart

et al. 2016

BMC Health Serv Res

153

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A recent article in BJGP by Abbt and Alderson 3 argues 'It's not workload', however the views expressed by our informants would challenge this. They described today's general practice working environment as being very different to that of some 20 or 30 years ago.…”

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confidence: 49%

GP workload: time for a rethink of the generalist model of care to promote retention

et al. 2015

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“…What could have gone wrong in the UK? We are genuinely worried about the 'sinking' of the NHS flagship, general practice, and we are not alone (1)(2)(3). In this paper, we support our experiences with a scoping review of the pertinent literature based on two systematic reviews, (5,6), and on mostly qualitative literature (7,8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%