Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18186990›Full record

ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2008

Effect of the new contract on GPs' working lives and perceptions of quality of care: a longitudinal survey.

Diane Whalley, Hugh Gravelle, Bonnie Sibbald

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Design and effects of outcome-based payment models in healthcare: a systematic review.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2019
    Pooled it
  3. Do compensation models affect family physician job satisfaction? Scoping review.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Financial incentive schemes in primary care.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2015
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Experience of contractual change in UK general practice: a qualitative study of salaried GPs.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Economic influences on GPs' decisions to provide out-of-hours care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2009
    Article
  15. GPs' working lives.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2008
    Article
  16. Doctors' content.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2008
    Article
  17. Contentment in general practice--for now.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2008
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Diane WhalleyNational Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester. diane.whalley@manchester.ac.uk
Hugh Gravelle
Bonnie Sibbald

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn ambitious pay-for-performance system was implemented in UK general practice in 2004 amid doubts that it could improve both the working lives of doctors and quality of care.

aimTo evaluate doctors' perceptions of their working lives and quality of care before and after the new contract. DESIGN OF STUDY: Longitudinal questionnaire survey.

settingEngland, UK.

methodA longitudinal postal survey of English GPs in February 2004 and September 2005. Measures included reported job satisfaction (7-point scale), hours worked, income, and impact of the contract.

resultsResponses were available from 2105 doctors in 2004 and 1349 in 2005. Mean overall job satisfaction increased from 4.58 out of 7 in 2004 to 5.17 in 2005. The greatest improvements in satisfaction were with remuneration and hours of work. Mean reported hours worked fell from 44.5 to 40.8. Mean income increased from an estimated 73,400 pounds in 2004 to 92,600 pounds in 2005. Most GPs reported that the new contract had increased their income (88%), but decreased their professional autonomy (71%), and increased their administrative (94%) and clinical (86%) workloads. After the introduction of the contract doctors were more positive than they had anticipated about its impact on quality of care.

conclusionGPs' job satisfaction increased after the introduction of the new contract, despite perceptions of negative consequences for workload and autonomy. GPs reported working fewer hours with a higher income, and their expectations regarding the impact of the contract on quality of care had been exceeded.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelFamily PracticeJob SatisfactionQuality of Health CareAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCollective BargainingContract ServicesEnglandFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedProspective Studies

Identifiers

PMID18186990
PMCPMC2148232

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.