Members of DAUK’s GP committee contributed to a powerful must-read feature in the Telegraph Magazine on GPs in crisis.
The feature explores how medics are disproportionately likely to die by suicide and highlights the immense strain family doctors are working under.
Dr Sarah Jacques shares her personal story, which she hopes will amplify the growing issue of adverse mental health in the NHS workforce.
She said: “‘Medicine is a vocation. You don’t stop being a doctor, it’s so much a part of you and when you don’t feel you’re doing it well you feel worthless.”
Our former co-chair, Dr Ellen Welch, author of Why Can’t I See My GP?, talks about the reasons behind plummeting morale among GPs.
“People have gone overseas, for example to Australia, where the salary can be almost triple what it is here and doctors have more time with their patients,” said Dr Welch.
Dr Lizzie Toberty, our GP lead, discusses how workloads can be managed with better triaging.
She concluded: “I do get stressed because you are holding so much risk and responsibility, but because I work with great people and I know I’m supported I still enjoy it. It’s a great job.”
