Association of GP wellbeing and burnout with patient safety in UK primary care: a cross-sectional survey

Louise H Hall; Judith Johnson; Ian Watt; Daryl B O’Connor

doi:10.3399/bjgp19X702713

Published eLetters

eLetter submission guidelines

Submit a Response to This Article

Compose eLetter

Title *

Author Information

Contributors

First Name and Middle Initial *

First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'.

Last Name *

Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'.

Email Address *

Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com. PLEASE NOTE: your email address will be published.

Occupation *

Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'.

Affiliation *

Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.

Statement of Competing Interests

Competing interests? *

Yes

Please describe the competing interests

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Vertical Tabs

Jump to comment:

Association of GP wellbeing and burnout with patient safety in UK primary care: a cross-sectional survey
Clive Sherlock

Published on: 07 August 2019
Does doctor burnout harm patients?
Steve Iliffe and JIll Manthorpe

Published on: 30 June 2019

Published on: (7 August 2019)
Page navigation anchor for Association of GP wellbeing and burnout with patient safety in UK primary care: a cross-sectional survey
Association of GP wellbeing and burnout with patient safety in UK primary care: a cross-sectional survey
Clive Sherlock, Psychiatrist, Imperial College London, Wolfson College Oxford
When GPs are becoming burnt out and their performance and quality of life are getting worse they, the doctors, are patients.

This article does not mention a study published in the British Journal of Medical Practice¹ which gives an overview of the problem doctors and so their patients and colleagues face and a way of dealing with it.

Reference

1. Sherlock C, John C. Adaptation Practice: Teaching doctors how to cope with stress, anxiety and depression by developing resilience. BJMP 2016; 9(2):a916. www...
Show More

When GPs are becoming burnt out and their performance and quality of life are getting worse they, the doctors, are patients.

This article does not mention a study published in the British Journal of Medical Practice¹ which gives an overview of the problem doctors and so their patients and colleagues face and a way of dealing with it.

Reference

1. Sherlock C, John C. Adaptation Practice: Teaching doctors how to cope with stress, anxiety and depression by developing resilience. BJMP 2016; 9(2):a916. www.bjmp.org/files/2016-9-2/bjmp-2016-9-2-a916.pdf (accessed 09 August 2019).

Show Less

Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (30 June 2019)
Page navigation anchor for Does doctor burnout harm patients?
Does doctor burnout harm patients?
Steve Iliffe, Emeritus Professor of Primary Care for Older People, University College London
Other Contributors:
JIll Manthorpe, Professor of Social Care and Director of the Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit
Hall and colleagues use of structured equation modelling¹ to study burnout increases our understanding of its origins but contributes less to our knowledge about its consequences. The problem is that patient safety – often said to be at risk when professionals are burnt out – was perceived by practitioners rather than measured independently. A systematic review and meta-analysis of mostly cross-sectional studies of low to moderate quality, and with a high level of heterogeneity² showed that self-reported patient safety incidents...
Show More

Hall and colleagues use of structured equation modelling¹ to study burnout increases our understanding of its origins but contributes less to our knowledge about its consequences. The problem is that patient safety – often said to be at risk when professionals are burnt out – was perceived by practitioners rather than measured independently. A systematic review and meta-analysis of mostly cross-sectional studies of low to moderate quality, and with a high level of heterogeneity² showed that self-reported patient safety incidents were significantly associated with burnout symptoms, but the association between physician burnout and system-recorded safety incidents was not statistically significant. One possible explanation is that those with burnout are more self-critical, honest and likely to report having made errors even when they had not. Lawson³ argues strongly that researchers, medical journals and medical leaders should not infer that burnout is associated with, let alone a meaningful cause of preventable adverse events. The interventionist view that too much is at stake and that urgent action is needed, even if knowledge is imperfect,⁴ is challenged by Schwenk and Gold, who argue that action is being proposed for a symptom without an understanding of its pathophysiology, origins, consequences and effective treatments.⁵ As for urgent action, after nearly fifty years of study of burnout there are many proposed solutions to it but little evidence of their effectiveness. Further exploration is needed, but we should make haste slowly.

References

1. Hall LA, Johnson J, Watt I, O’Connor DB. Association of GP wellbeing and burnout with patient safety in UK primary care: cross-sectional survey. Br J Gen Pract 2019; 69(684): e507-e514.

2. Panagioti M, Geraghty K, Johnson J, et al. Association Between Physician Burnout and Patient Safety, Professionalism, and Patient Satisfaction A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Intern Med 2018; 178(10):1317-1330.

3. Lawson ND Burnout is not associated with increasing medical errors Mayo Clin Proceed 2018; 93(11):1683-1689.

4. Epstein RM, Privitera MR Doing something about physician burnout. Lancet 2016; 388: 2216-7.

5. Schwenk TL, Gold KJ Physician burnout – A serious symptom, but of what? JAMA 2018; 320(11):1109-10.

Show Less

Competing Interests: None declared.