Survey shows doctors' lot not a happy one

By KATHERINE HOBY

What's up, doc? The British Medical Journal has published the results of an international survey entitled Why are doctors so unhappy?

The survey invited doctors around the world to indicate how happy they were in their job, and the reasons behind their feelings.

Overall, 1540 medical professionals responded.

The first question asked: how unhappy are you?

Over half the respondents replied, very unhappy (247) or unhappy (631).

The other responses were: neither happy nor unhappy (345), happy (257), or very happy (60).

Next, doctors were asked to cite three or four reasons from a list as to why they were unhappy.

Most said they were overworked (959), they were underpaid (759), they were inadequately supported (681), they had declining control over their work (542), or that they were left picking up the pieces in a society that had lost ways of coping with pain, sickness and death (519).

Other reasons for discontent included: media coverage of doctors being too negative (465), politicians stoking patient expectations (441), and the health service falling apart (437).

There were 36 responses from New Zealand doctors. Just three said they were very unhappy.

Four said they were very happy.

The other New Zealand respondents fell into the following categories: unhappy (9), neither happy nor unhappy (11) and happy (9).

Tony Dowell, professor of general practitioners at the Wellington School of Medicine, said the results were interesting, but not too much should be readinto the figures.

"My immediate feelings are that this kind of survey is driven by those who read the journal, and those who feel strongly enough one way or another to respond."

But he said the number of New Zealand doctors who responded showed the strength of feeling in this country on the topic.

Professor Dowell said he believed that job satisfaction among medical professionals in New Zealand was generally higher than of those in Britain.

"In hard times," he said, "there is still that Kiwi can-do attitude."

However, research by the Wellington School of Medicine showed that about a third of hospital consultants and GPs in New Zealand had significantly high stress levels.

Professor Dowell said that doctors in both Britain and New Zealand had become quite demoralised.

The profession had been damaged by high-profile cases against doctors over the past two years in both New Zealand and Britain.

English GP Harold Shipman was jailed for life for the murders of 15 women patients he injected with heroin. An investigation is under way into hundreds of other patient cases.

In New Zealand, the conviction for patient sex abuse of Christchurch GP Morgan Fahey, and the conduct of Northland doctor Graham Parry have shaken public confidence in the medical profession.

"The conduct of these individual practitioners clearly cannot be condoned, but it does not represent the state of play in the medical profession," said Professor Dowell.

"Doctors don't know how the country feels about them any more.

"How much does New Zealand value its doctors? That's the question we have to ask ourselves."

He said most doctors did a hard day's work for a fair day's pay.

"I am not sure if there is sufficient celebration of the work GPs do in New Zealand."