South Yorkshire GP: 'Burnout' becoming more common in the industry
A campaign group wants to see more action to help GPs who are struggling to cope with demand
Four in five GPs have been stressed, anxious or depressed in the last year, a campaign group has said as it called for more action to alleviate burnout among family doctors.
The Rebuild General Practice campaign group warned there is a "workforce emergency" with significant numbers of family doctors feeling the strain.
A survey of 1,400 British GPs found about half (51%) have seen staff leave their surgery over the last five years due to "unmanageable workloads".
Almost half (48%) said colleagues have left the profession due to mental health issues or burnout. Some 84% said they have felt anxiety, stress or depression in the last year.
The campaign group is calling on the Government to do more to recruit and retain doctors in general practice.
Dr Rachel Ward, from the Rebuild General Practice campaign, said: "This is a crisis for GPs and an emergency for patients.
"Years of underfunding and neglect has severely damaged general practice, leaving us with a skeleton staff across Great Britain and no plan for filling the gaps, meanwhile patient appointments are at an all-time high.
"As GPs we are trying to find solutions and we are crying out for help - for our patients but also as human beings who are simply trying to offer excellent care and look after our communities."
Dr Dean Eggitt is a GP in Doncaster and says he's not surprised by the findings:
"I think general practice in the NHS has been under increasing pressure for the last decade.
"The situation has been worsening because we've had advances in medical care, patients are living longer, and medicine is getting more complex.
"However, our work force is diminishing.
"Inevitably, this is affecting the quality of what we can offer to patients as well-that's the knock-on effect."