In this episode we talk to Dr Jordan Moxey and Dr Carol Sinnott who are both at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute in Cambridge. Jordan is a medical doctor and programme coordinator. Carol is a Senior Clinical Research Associate and GP.

Paper: Identifying how GPs spend their time and the obstacles they face: a mixed-methods study

https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2021.0357

Direct observations of what consumes GPs’ time and what might disrupt their ability to complete tasks have remained remarkably rare. Operational failures are common in general practice and highly consequential. Frequent operational failures include interruptions interfering with task completion, problems relating to equipment and supplies, problems arising from GPs’ coordination role, and defects in organisational processes within practices. The impact of operational failures in general practice goes well beyond diversion of time and interference with task completion: they are very adverse for GPs’ experiences of work.