Trends in full-time working in general practice: a repeated cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Health Workforce Research
• Medical Statistics

Background:

• Lack of consensus on full-time general practitioner (GP) working hours definition.
• Importance of defining full-time work for GP workforce planning and resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define full-time GP working hours.
• To analyze changes in GP working hours over time.
• To investigate the influence of GP demographics on these changes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of repeated cross-sectional national GP surveys (2010-2021).
• Comparison of working time commitments: hours/sessions per week, hours per session.
• Multiple regression to adjust for GP demographics and practice characteristics.

Main Results:

• Average weekly GP hours decreased from 40.5 to 38.0 (2010-2021).
• Average weekly GP sessions decreased from 7.3 to 6.2 (2010-2021).
• Average hours per session increased from 5.7 to 6.2 (2010-2021).

Conclusions:

• Six sessions/week aligns with NHS full-time hours based on current session length.
• Weekly working hours provide a more stable definition for full-time GP work.