Flexible hours becoming the norm for GPs

A recent news report has flagged that nearly ⅓ of GPs say they think it’s unlikely they’ll still be working in General Practice in 5 years time; just the latest in a string of articles reporting a worrying trend of stress and burnout amongst some of the NHS’s hardest working professionals.

Another report in September 2018 revealed that almost 7/10 general practitioners were working less than full-time. The proportion of GPs opting to work less than 40 hours per week has been creeping up over the last five years in line with increasing demands and expectations and years of underinvestment starting to take their toll. Currently, 60% of GP partners work part-time and the majority of GPs declared in a recent survey that they intended to retire before the age of 60.

But, of course, ‘part-time’ is a bit of a misnomer. In reality, many GPs are choosing part-time hours - and the accompanying cut in salary - in order to make their jobs more manageable. Finishing ‘early’ a couple of days a week affords GPs some catch-up time, and many are open about the fact that they’ve chosen part-time hours in order to make impossible demands more attainable. With less patient-facing time, they’re able to complete their admin and other tasks within something resembling ‘normal’ hours.

When asked about the stressful aspects of their jobs, GPs have a whole range of answers. Shorter appointment times, fewer resources, challenging CPD requirements, confrontational patients, high-stakes decisions on a daily - sometimes hourly - basis - are just a few of the reasons given in surveys and interviews.

For many GPs, taking part-time hours is a way of preserving their sanity and securing some semblance of a work/life balance. The pressures of general practice are immense, and although there’s some recognition and the vital role they play within the NHS, we’re a long way away from appropriate action to support that lip-service. It’s unsurprising that may of those that can are choosing locum work or requesting a reduction in hours in their salaried position and ‘topping up’ with shifts elsewhere.

You might have children and want to get home for bathtime more than once or twice a week. You might be involved in other projects outside of the day-job and wearing many hats whilst striving to improve healthcare services. You might want to see more of friends and family or to create some time for a hobby or interest. You might simply want - or need - a break from a relentless, full-on surgery setting. You don’t need to justify the whys.

But once you’ve established that you need more control and flexibility over your working hours, Nightingale is here to help. How? Well, Nightingale exists to match qualified and experienced healthcare professionals to the work they want. Perhaps you want to dip a toe into self-employed waters and try the odd shift here and there to see if it could work for you. You might have left a job and want to ease yourself back in with some locum work. You might want to cut out the commute or the workplace politics and for the time you spend in a surgery to be focused on patient care.

It used to be that self-employed GPs had piles of paperwork, timesheets and bossy agencies to deal with: well, no more. Or not with Nightingale, anyway. Our easy to use online platform puts you in charge, letting you outline your clinical experience and interests, set your rates of pay and the distance you’re prepared to travel. Nightingale gets to work straightaway, matching you to the work that fulfills your criteria.

Ready to try something new? Find out more about our offering for doctors here.