ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2020
A real-time measurement of general practice workload in the Republic of Ireland: a prospective study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed.
- Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of Implementing a Preclinic Vital Signs Assessment in Primary Care: Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2026Article
- "There is never any rest, never enough time and too much to do": a qualitative study of GP work intensity in an Irish context.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Characterising prescribing cascades in older community-dwelling adults attending general practice in The Netherlands: a retrospective cohort study.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- A feasibility study of the use of a patient leaflet for respiratory tract infection consultations in general practice in Ireland.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- A realist inquiry to examine the implementation of Advanced Nurse Practitioner roles in General Practice settings: A realist review protocol.HRB open research · 2026Article
- Addressing systemic workforce challenges in general practice-a qualitative study of general practitioners in Ireland.Family practice · 2025Article
- HIV testing in primary care in the West of Ireland: a mixed-method survey between 2013 and 2023.BJGP open · 2025Article
- What motivates general practitioners of the future: qualitative study of Irish trainees.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Effects of COVID-19 on Irish general practice activity from 2019 to 2021: a retrospective analysis of 500,000 consultations using electronic medical record data.Irish journal of medical science · 2024Article
- Access systems in general practice: a systematic scoping review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Insights from end-of-career general practitioners on changing working conditions and generational differences: considerations for future strategies.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- The real work of general practice: understanding our hidden workload.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Article
- Supporting family carers in general practice: a scoping review of clinical guidelines and recommendations.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Identifying Factors that Support the Delivery of Exceptional Care in General Practice and Development of the IDEAL Framework: A Qualitative Study.Qualitative health research · 2023Article
- Supporting family carers in Ireland: the role of the general practitioner.Irish journal of medical science · 2023Article
- Access to General Practitioners during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: a nationwide survey of doctors.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Workload and workflow implications associated with the use of electronic clinical decision support tools used by health professionals in general practice: a scoping review.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDemand for GP services in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) is increasing, and the resultant escalation in workload demands is an issue of growing concern. Accordingly, the accurate measurement and description of GP workload is essential to inform future healthcare planning.
aimTo provide a real-time measurement of GP workload with respect to hours worked and of proportional time expenditure on typical workload activities. DESIGN AND
settingA prospective study among GPs in the RoI that took place from January 2019 to March 2019.
methodParticipants were invited to enrol in the study by direct email invitation and via notifications posted within GP-specific monthly journals; online forums; and a social media platform. Participants used a time-management software program to self-record workload activity in real time over 6 weeks.
resultsIn total, 123 GPs were included for final analyses with a total of 8930 hours of activity recorded. The mean duration of a two-session day (excluding break-time) was 9.9 hours (95% confidence interval [CI] = 9.7 to 10.0; interquartile range [IQR] 7.9 to 13.9). Of this time, 64% was spent on clinical consultations. In total, 25.4% of activity was recorded outside the hours of 9.00 am and 5.00 pm. An average of 12.4 face-to-face consultations were completed per session of activity. The mean duration of a 10-session week was greatest for the partner (50.8 hours; 95% CI = 49.8 to 51.9) and >55-year-old (50.8 hours; 95% CI = 49.3 to 52.2) demographics, relative to their respective colleagues.
conclusionTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to provide an objective, accurate, and granular real-time measurement of GP workload in the RoI, demonstrating the significant volume and variety of work undertaken by GPs in the RoI.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.