Research shows that seven in ten GPs in Britain suffer from compassion fatigue

A study shows that seven in ten GPs suffer from compassion fatigue and have difficulty empathizing with patients because they are exhausted from caring for them.

GPs say they are so emotionally and physically exhausted from hearing about patients’ problems and circumstances that it compromises the quality of care they provide.

A survey of 1,855 doctors in Britain found that 71% of GPs and 62% of doctors in general had suffered from compassion fatiguewhich undermines the doctor-patient relationship.

“Compassion fatigue is actually a hidden, secondary trauma with symptoms that can ultimately make it extremely difficult for GPs to treat their patients,” says Dr John Holden, chief medical officer of the Medical and Dental Defense Union of Scotland (MDDUS). who conducted the research.

GPs are “particularly vulnerable” to the syndrome because of their “prolonged exposure to the suffering and trauma of patients”, and their heavy workload because the NHS is overstretched, he said.

Holden added: “The scale of compassion fatigue affecting all doctors is shocking, but the impact on GPs is significantly greater.”

If doctors are too exhausted to provide compassionate care, patient safety will inevitably be affected, he said.

Nearly half (44%) of survey participants were concerned that compassion fatigue could cause them to provide unsafe care and experience complaints. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of all doctors and 77% of GPs said this affected their ability to communicate with patients.

Professor Clare Gerada, an expert on mental health issues among doctors, said compassion fatigue is “often characterized by a reduced ability to empathize and connect with patients, feelings of emotional numbness or detachment, and a feeling of being overwhelmed by the work demands”.

Sometimes called “the cost of care,” it is related to but distinct from stress, burnout, and moral injury, which result from physicians’ inability to provide the care patients need.

Of the 1,855 doctors asked about their mental health, 1,147 (62%) said they suffered from compassion fatigue. But a larger proportion of GPs – 422 out of 597 (71%) – said the same. It was most common among younger physicians between the ages of 25 and 34.

MDDUS also found that:

• 21% of doctors had thought about self-harm or suicide at least once.

• 85% of GPs who had suicidal feelings attributed this to the impact of their work.

• In 2024, 84% of general practitioners experienced verbal violence and 24% physical violence from patients.

• Long waiting times for care (79%) and complaints about care (51%) were the most common reasons.

“The findings are incredibly disturbing but not surprising,” said Dr Latifa Patel, head of staff at the British Medical Association.

She added: “They highlight the well-known mental health crisis among NHS staff. Doctors’ well-being should not suffer when they go to work, especially to the extent that they harm themselves or consider suicide. GPs are at a breaking point and burnout is palpable across the profession.”

Gerada, former president of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) and founder of the charity Doctors in Distress, said: “Compassion fatigue can have a negative impact on performance, morale and staff retention.”

She added that MDDUS’s “appalling” findings showed that the relentless demands of health workers’ jobs meant they needed “psychological personal protection” – where they could talk confidentially about their experiences and support each other.

Prof. Kamila Hawthorne, the current RCGP chair, said the results were in line with recent research from the organisation, which found 22% of GPs were so stressed they felt they could not cope on average once or twice a week.

GPs also suffered from ‘moral distress’, feeling they could not help patients due to non-medical factors beyond their control – such as poor housing, the cost of living and NHS waiting lists – she added .

The government’s drive to reform the NHS may face obstacles, the findings also suggested. Two-thirds of GPs (66%) said their practice was “not at all prepared” for the “strategic shift” of healthcare from hospitals to the community that Health Secretary Wes Streeting has promised.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The wellbeing of everyone who works in the NHS is vital, and comprehensive coaching support and mental health support are available to all staff.

“We support GPs to reduce their workload, by cutting red tape, reducing bureaucracy and reducing outdated performance targets – so they can spend more time with patients and doing the work that really matters.

“The budget also provided an additional £26 million to open new mental health crisis centers and funding to provide talking therapies to a further 380,000 patients.”