Four in five GPs experience ‘moral distress’, survey finds

Nearly four in five GPs across the country have experienced moral distress while caring for their patients, a new survey has found.

Research conducted by the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) found that GPs are ‘emotionally burdened’ from being unable to provide the care they ‘want and expect to deliver’ due to lack of resources.

The survey of 2,068 doctors across the UK – of which 617 were GPs – found that 78% of GPs said they experienced moral distress in their job, with 84% saying this was ‘due to the current challenges facing the NHS’.

Moral distress happens when the gap between what professional judgment dictates should be done and what the healthcare system currently permits ‘is wide’.

The findings also highlighted the impact moral distress could have on staff retention, with 44% of GPs saying they have considered ‘leaving the medical profession altogether’ and 22% ‘retiring early due to the burden’.

And among the GPs who said their moral distress was due to the current challenges facing the NHS, 84% reported ‘feeling unhappy at work’, which led to trouble sleeping at night.

MDDUS also found that 73% of GPs struggling with moral distress due to the challenges facing the NHS said their unhappiness at work ‘was affecting their mental health’, and 50% said they were concerned that their unhappiness ‘could have a detrimental impact on their safe practice’.

The impact of the cost-of-living crisis is also contributing to moral distress, according to the findings, with 65% of all doctors saying that ‘patients are presenting with conditions that are preventable through better diet and living conditions’.

MDDUS chief medical officer Dr John Holden said: ‘The results reveal the full extent of the psychological damage a worryingly large number of doctors experience because of problems they encounter in their working lives that they feel powerless to fix.

‘The range of issues doctors face as a by-product of their moral distress is extensive, including anger, sadness, insomnia, relationship difficulties and more. And what’s most concerning is how this can impact doctors’ safe practice.

‘The situations facing patients that frequently trigger feelings of moral distress in doctors include waiting times, lack of beds, understaffing and having to practice medicine not to professional standards due to system constraints.’

The survey also found that the impact of the cost-of-living conditions on children’s health ‘particularly affected doctors’, with one doctor saying that their patients were in ‘inappropriate housing that was unsanitary and unsafe for a toddler’.

Another doctor told MDDUS they were treating ‘unkempt children with poor fitting shoes causing blistering and sores’.

Other preventable and treatable conditions GPs said they have come across included: 

• Asthma (62%)
• Folate deficiency (55%) 
• Other vitamin deficiency (54%) 

In October, Pulse reported that GPs are increasingly being asked to assess if patients are eligible for financial support for energy discounts, or schemes such as home insulation, due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Last year, research conducted by MDDUS found that 85% of GPs have reported receiving verbal abuse from patients within the previous 12 months.

And an analysis found that GPs in the UK experience the highest levels of stress and have the lowest job satisfaction compared to doctors in other high-income countries.