Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/162387
Title: Experiences of doctors working in Singapore's public primary healthcare clinics
Authors: Zainal, Humairah
Quah, Joanne H. M.
Smith, Helen E.
Keywords: Science::Medicine
Issue Date: 2022
Source: Zainal, H., Quah, J. H. M. & Smith, H. E. (2022). Experiences of doctors working in Singapore's public primary healthcare clinics. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(5), e1948-e1958. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13626
Project: NRMC/HSRG/0093/2018
Journal: Health & Social Care in the Community
Abstract: Despite providing 20 percent of primary healthcare and a larger proportion of care for patients with chronic conditions, little is documented about working in public primary healthcare clinics in Singapore. While previous studies of primary care physicians' occupational stress focused on burnout, this study explores broader personal, professional and organisational factors affecting their experiences. It examines factors influencing doctors working in such clinics to leave or remain in this setting, and the initiatives that would retain and encourage re-entry in the public sector. The study employs a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews with 22 doctors conducted between November 2018 and May 2019. These doctors had at least 1 year of experience working in a public primary healthcare clinic. Sixteen of them had left the public sector and six others remaining. Qualitative content analysis was used to interpret the data. The respondents shared three key less favourable themes of working in these clinics; heavy workload and long working hours, short consultation times, and a perceived lack of management's concern about doctors' welfare, and two key valuable experiences of working in this setting; continuity of care and opportunities for academic scholarly activity, including teaching and research. The findings suggest that to retain doctors in these clinics, change is needed at an organisational and structural level. Overall, this study bears important implications for health policy and planning, especially with regard to how the public healthcare system can strike a balance between meeting the demand for high-quality healthcare, and the professional needs of healthcare providers.
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/162387
ISSN: 0966-0410
DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13626
Schools: Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) 
Rights: © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fulltext Permission: none
Fulltext Availability: No Fulltext
Appears in Collections:LKCMedicine Journal Articles

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