‘We’re very worried about our GPs,’ says doctors’ health helpline
Dr Jen Schafer, medical director of Queensland Doctors' Health Program, says more GPs than ever are calling as the pandemic continues to impact workload.
More GPs have reached out to a Queensland helpline this year as they continue to come under pressure from the impact of COVID-19, says the head of the service.
Dr Jennifer Schafer, medical director of the Queensland Doctors’ Health Program, says the marked increase in calls represents just the “tip of the iceberg” of doctor distress.
On top of the many vaccine changes and issues, she says GPs are struggling with an increase in patient numbers, more complex mental health cases and an added workload from telehealth.
Calls to the independent, confidential 24-hour helpline for doctors run by the program went up by 36% in the first half of 2021 compared to the last six months of 2020.
