Understanding pressures in general practice

"This report looks at patient factors, system factors and supply-side issues to see what lies behind this increasing pressure on general practice. It finds that despite GPs being at the heart of the health care system, a lack of nationally available, real-time data has made their changing workload largely invisible to commissioners and policy-makers."

Understanding pressures in general practice
B Baird, A Charles, M Honeyman, D Maguire, P Das
The King's Fund
May 2016

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Patient safety implications of general practice workload

"This discussion paper looks at fatigue among GPs – as caused by persistent and excessive workload – its potential impact on patient safety, and methods available to improve this situation in future."

Patient safety implications of general practice workload
Royal College of General Practitioners
July 2015

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Improving patient safety by implementing a new general surgical on-call rota for FY1 doctors

"This project demonstrates that altering rotas can improve junior doctor's perception of patient safety, and also shows that junior team members, with departmental support, can overcome barriers to change and implement new rotas."

Improving patient safety by implementing a new general surgical on-call rota for FY1 doctors
H Walton, M Uheba
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206069.w3327

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Ensuring appropriate use of monitored dosage systems

"This initiative aims to reduce the inappropriate use of monitored dosage systems by ensuring they are only issued on a case-by-case basis to address specific practical problems of medicines adherence."

Ensuring appropriate use of monitored dosage systems: reducing unnecessary pharmacy workload: QIPP Case Study
Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
NICE Quality and productivity collection
January 2015

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Associations with workload and perceived quality of care

"There is strong evidence to show that lower nurse staffing levels in hospitals are associated with worse patient outcomes."

‘Care left undone’ during nursing shifts: associations with workload and perceived quality of care
JE Ball, T Murrells AM Rafferty, E Morrow, P Griffiths
BMJ Quality and Safety Online First, published on 29 July 2013

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