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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Orla Whitehead, Professor Suzanne Moffatt, Professor Barbara HanrattyORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Objective: To explore how it feels to be a burnt out GP in the NHS. Design: In depth qualitative interviews with 16 UK GPs with self-declared ‘lived experience’ of burnout. Setting: United Kingdom Primary Care. Results: Seven male and nine female GPs described their experiences of burnout to a peer researcher. Themes identified were exhaustion and depersonalisation, mental and physical illness, identity and existential crises, and finally tenacity and resilience. Participants were self-reflective and described distress, shame, stigma, and guilt, including times of suicidal behaviour and isolation due to their burnout. Conclusions: Burnout threatens a GP’s sense of identity, purpose, and functioning in their lives, and ultimately can be life-threatening. Active listening to GP distress and a system wide approach to managing distress and burnout is urgently required.
Author(s): Whitehead IO, Moffatt S, Hanratty B
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: European Journal of General Practice
Year: 2024
Volume: 30
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 25/11/2024
Acceptance date: 28/10/2024
Date deposited: 09/12/2024
ISSN (print): 1381-4788
ISSN (electronic): 1751-1402
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2024.2426981
DOI: 10.1080/13814788.2024.2426981
Data Access Statement: This data will be stored and anonymised data will be available on reasonable request.
PubMed id: 39584540
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