The University of Manchester’s GP Worklife Survey has revealed that a third of GPs are likely to quit direct patient care within five years.

According to the research, in GPs over 50 the figure rose from 33 per cent to 61 per cent, whilst among GPs under 50, one in every six (16 per cent) said they were planning to leave.

The average level of overall job satisfaction, measured between 1 (extremely dissatisfied) and 7 (extremely satisfied), decreased by 0.2 points from 4.5 in 2019 to 4.3 in 2021. However, over half of respondents (51 per cent) said they were satisfied with their job overall.

Kath Checkland, who led the study said: ‘We’re very grateful to the GPs who took time out to respond to our survey during this difficult year. It is not really surprising that job satisfaction has dropped amongst GPs during the pandemic, but the survey provides some evidence about the areas of work they are finding more stressful, which may help in designing ways to support them.

“The fact that 16 per cent of GPs under the age of 50 are thinking about leaving their jobs is worrying, and suggests that work is still needed to ensure that general practice is sustainable for the long term.”