Medical ‘banter’ blamed for decline in GPs

MEDICAL students are being put off becoming GPs by a culture of “banter” that stigmatises general practice as “soft” and “unglamorous”, the head of the profession has warned.

Maureen Baker, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said the “systematic denigration” of family doctors was having a noticeable impact on the numbers choosing to pursue the vocation.

The situation is being compounded, she said, by specialist hospital doctors, responsible for mentoring trainee medics, who too often “bad mouth” general practice.

England is experiencing an estimated shortfall of 3,325 GPs, with 12 per cent of posts unfilled in 2015, according to the royal college, which estimates the deficit will rise to 8,371 by 2020 if the current trend continues.

The difficulty of securing a GP appointment is also exacerbating the crisis in increasingly overwhelmed accident and emergency departments, where waiting times are spiralling. Prof Baker said that the culture had not improved in the past 20 years.

“It’s very concerning, when we think GPs and our teams conduct 90 per cent of all patient contacts, that this ‘ banter’ is yet another barrier we are up against when trying to recruit enough GPs to ensure a safe and robust service for the future of patient care,” she said.

Prof Baker added that she had heard numerous anecdotes from junior doctors who had expressed an interest in becoming GPs only to be told “don’t waste your talent” by senior hospital specialists.

Her intervention was echoed by Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who said careers in psychiatric medicine are also the target of negative stereotyping among students.

“It’s not that we can’t take a joke, but often the banter directed at psychiatrists isn’t a joke on us, it’s a joke on our patients and that isn’t acceptable,” he said.