Part-time in general practice-a remedy to a time-based problem?

Increasing numbers of GPs are reducing the hours they work in clinical practice. The reasons for and implications of this are not well-understood.

To investigate how the demands of general practice, especially new time pressures, impact GPs' professional and personal lives and work hour choices.

Using a grounded theory approach, we conducted 26 in-depth interviews with GPs working in Australia.

Time-bound consultation windows, the complexity of patients presenting to general practice and consequent administrative and emotional burdens placed upon GPs combined to increase time pressures and an intensifying clinical load. Many GPs also strove to sequester time for family and reported burnout and poor health along with abiding concerns for quality of care.

This study suggests a need for new policies on how clinical consultations are timed and remunerated in keeping with a changed GP demography, new demands and a more complex patient care profile.