Overworked And Overstressed: Are We Turning Doctors Into Patients?

Recent reports indicate that 80% of senior hospital doctors are seriously considering taking early retirement due to increased stress and workload. 74% of GPs say their workload is ‘unmanageable’ and report feeling increasingly vulnerable to being overworked at work. The job of a GP is only getting tougher, with increased accountability and an unenviable remit of responsibilities, from clinical demands to juggling surgery finances to managing employees. Taking on so much responsibility is pushing our doctors closer to chronic overwork, with very few able to articulate their problems.

It comes down to character and doctors are skilled at hiding their feelings of being overworked in the workplace. For instance, before they take on the excessive demands as a practitioner, they first have to go through the rigours of medical school, which conditions certain behaviours, including perfectionism (can doctors afford to be wrong?) and psychological strategies that help defend doctors from the pain and anxiety they come across daily.

However, there is a breaking point from being overworked. It seems like we are converging on that point with the introduction of a seven-day week for the NHS, which will not only affect the workloads of many but also cost hospitals an estimated 1.5% to 2% of their budgets.