Work survey
Eithne Donnellan,
Health Correspondent
Doctors involved in one of the new GP co-operatives set up to provide better out of hours cover for patients and more family-friendly working conditions for doctors have been found to be suffering from slightly higher levels of stress than doctors not involved in the co-op.
This is despite the fact that GPs in the co-op worked significantly fewer hours per day during a five-day working week than non co-op doctors.
The findings, which come in a study to be published later this week, are the reverse of what had been expected.
The research was carried out among 120 doctors in the north west, about half of whom were participating in the NoWDOC (North Western Association of Doctors on Call) scheme.
The co-op had been operating for a year at the time of the study which was carried out by the Department of General Practice at the National University of Ireland, Galway, (NUIG) in collaboration with GPs in the north west.
Prof Andrew Murphy of the Department of General Practice at NUIG said the researchers were expecting a decrease in the stress level and improved mental health among GPs involved in the co-op but this was not found. He added that while GPs in the co-op appeared from the findings to be more stressed, the differences were "not significantly different".
The same tools were used to measure stress levels in this study as in other similar studies in Scotland and the UK which found significantly lower stress levels among co-op GPs.
Prof Murphy said co-ops in the Republic had resulted in better out of hours cover for patients and more family-friendly working conditions for doctors so he was surprised by the results.
"On the ground there has only been positive feedback about co-ops and definitely they are the way to progress but it was certainly a surprise finding," he said.
"The anticipated differences in mental health and job stress among participating GPs were not shown. Indeed the trends in both ... whilst not significant were in the opposite direction to what was expected," the report of the study said.
"Our results may reflect that whilst co-operatives may decrease the absolute amount of time on call, the associated levels of stress may be as high. The challenge of repeatedly managing high volumes of unfamiliar sick patients in different centres is a significant one," it added.