BJGP Interviews

We're taking a two week summer break, but why not hear more about the BJGP Research Conference which is being held on 22 March 2024. Learn more about the conference at https://bjgp.org/conference.

We're taking a two week summer break, but why not hear more about the BJGP Research Conference which is being held on 22 March 2024. Learn more about the conference at www.https://bjgp.org/conference.

In this episode, we talk to Line Pedersen and Anne Sophie Oxholm from the Research Unit for General Practice at the University of Southern Denmark.

Title of paper: Mapping general practitioners’ motivation: It is not all about the money. A nation-wide cross-sectional survey study from Denmark

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0563

Understanding physicians’ motivation may be essential for designing policies and organisational structures that ensure the wellbeing and retention of GPs, and high-quality care. However, physicians’ motivation remains an understudied area. We find heterogeneity in GPs’ work motivation and identify five GP segments. The largest segment (53.2%) is characterised by being motivated ‘less by the money’.

In this episode, we talk to Charlie Coombs who is a medical student and School for Primary Care Research intern working at University College London. 

Title of paper: Opportunities, challenges and implications of primary care micro-teams for patients and healthcare professionals: an international systematic review

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0545

The number of GP practices in the UK has overall reduced, whilst individual practice size lists have increased. This systematic review uses a framework analysis to synthesis the current literature available around micro-teams as a potential intervention to mitigate compromised care in larger practices. This review highlights micro-teams as a structure of general practice to promote accessible healthcare delivery and moderate losses to continuity. Further research in whether continuity can be offered by a team instead of an individual is warranted in the implementation of micro-teams.

In this episode, we talk to Professor Jonathan Mant who is Professor of Primary Care and Head of the Primary Care Unit within the Department of Public Health & Primary Care in the University of Cambridge. 

Title of paper: Progression of stroke risk in atrial fibrillation: Cohort study in general practice

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0568

New technologies are likely to result in younger people being diagnosed with atrial fibrillation who do not require anticoagulation treatment at diagnosis. There are few data to inform follow up of such people. Risk of development of hypertension and heart failure was found to be high in this group (indications for anticoagulation), suggesting

In this episode, we talk to Emma Whitfield, who is a PhD student in the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London.

Title of paper: Diagnostic windows in non-neoplastic diseases: a systematic review

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2023.0044

Improving timeliness of diagnosis is imperative across disease types. This review identified that for a range of nonneoplastic conditions healthcare use starts to increase in the time before diagnosis. For some conditions, this increase may first start to occur many years before diagnosis. Further research is needed to produce accurate estimates of how much earlier diagnosis may be possible.

In this episode, we’re going to do something a bit different and recognise some exceptional researchers here in the UK. We talk to Dr Sarah Bailey and Dr Ben Brown, this year’s winners of the Royal College of GPs and Society for Academic Primary Care early career researcher award. This award, which has a long history of recognising the up and coming superstars of primary care research, recognises the contribution of early career researchers to advancing primary care theory and practice.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Laura Jefferson, who is a Research Fellow within the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York. 

Title of paper: ‘Exploring gender differences in uptake of GP partnership roles: a qualitative mixed methods study’. 

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0544

An unadjusted gender pay gap of 33.5% exists in general practice, reflecting partly the differential uptake of partnerships amongst women GPs, but evidence exploring gender differences in GPs’ career progression is sparse. Our mixed methods approach used interview data, social media analysis and asynchronous online focus groups to explore factors affecting uptake of partnership roles, focusing particularly on gender differences. Factors at individual, organisational and national levels influence partnership uptake and career decisions of both men and women GPs, though gender differences were apparent with women reporting greater challenges balancing work/family, negative working conditions including maternity and sickness pay and discriminatory practices perceived to favour men and full time GPs. The relative attractiveness of salaried, locum or private roles in general practice appears to discourage both men and women from partnerships presently. Promoting positive workplace cultures through strong role models, improved flexibility in roles and skills training could potentially encourage greater uptake amongst both men and women.

In this episode, we talk to Ruth Swann who is a Senior Analyst for Cancer Research UK in partnership with NHS England, about the study she’s published alongside colleagues here in the BJGP. 

Title of paper: Comparison between the 2018 and 2014 National Cancer Diagnosis Audits for England

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0268

There is ongoing national monitoring of elements of the cancer referral process from primary care, including the proportion of urgent referrals (‘2-week waits’, TWW) and emergency presentations. The 2014 National Cancer Diagnosis Audit (NCDA) provided a richer picture of this process, as reported by GPs themselves. This research presents a direct comparison of that audit to the more recent one carried out on patients diagnosed in 2018, with revised NICE guidance on referral of suspected cancer having been published in 2015, showing the changes in practice and their direction.

In this episode, we talk to Dr Alex Hodkinson, who is an NIHR senior research fellow within the NIHR Patient Safety Translational Research Centre at the University of Manchester. 

Title of paper: Association of strong opioids and antibiotics prescribing with GP burnout: a retrospective cross-sectional study’. 

Available at: https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2022.0394

Prescribing has important implications for patient safety; this is particularly the case for high-risk medications such as strong opioids, and medications where there may be public health implications such as antibiotics. Physician wellness such as burnout can also have a significant impact on the productivity of healthcare organisations, intentions to leave medical practice, and both the quality and safety of patient care. At present, it is unclear if there is an association between the wellness of GPs within general practices and overprescribing of strong opioids and antibiotics in primary care in England. Over a 4-month period this study found higher prescribing of strong opioids and antibiotics among GPs with burnout symptoms, job dissatisfaction, and turnover intentions; working longer hours; and in practices based in the north of England serving more deprived populations.