EQuiP Krakow 2026 Interview: Dr. Andrée Rochfort on Strengthening the Heart of Primary Care: Well-being and Resilience in Family Physician

Published on 2 March 2026.

Sustaining the Workforce: Lessons from the Doctors’ Health & Wellbeing Programme

Published on 02/02/2026

Dr. Andrée Rochfort is a defining voice for the health and sustainability of the medical workforce in Europe. As the Director of Quality Improvement and the Doctors’ Health & Wellbeing Programme at the Irish College of GPs, she has dedicated over three decades to ensuring that the clinicians at the center of our health systems are as well-cared for as the patients they serve. A former President of EQuiP and a leading contributor to the European Definition of General Practice, her work bridges the gap between clinical excellence and physician resilience.

As we look forward to the EQuiP Conference 2026 in Krakow (May 21–23), we sat down with Dr. Rochfort to discuss the global workforce crisis, the "Quadruple Aim," and why attending a professional forum is more than just development—it is a vital "clinical intervention" for the modern GP.

Speaker Profile: Dr. Andrée Rochfort

Keynote Speaker & Workshop Chair, EQuiP Krakow 2026

  • Global Leadership & Strategy:

    • Immediate Past President of EQuiP (2021–2025): Led the European Society for Quality and Patient Safety in General Practice/Family Medicine through a transformative period for primary care.

    • Chair of the WONCA Europe Special Interest Group (SIG) on Doctors’ Health & Well-being: A leading advocate for integrating professional wellness into the heart of health policy.

    • Co-author of the 2023 Revision of the European Definition of GP/FM: Instrumental in redefining the core values and clinical scope of the specialty for the modern era.

  • Renowned International Keynote Speaker:

    • Invited Keynote at WONCA World Lisbon 2025 on the Quadruple Aim—advancing the health of the system by protecting the health of the provider.

    • Keynote at WONCA Europe London 2022 on Planetary Health, linking environmental sustainability with primary care.

  • Clinical & Academic Excellence:

    • Over 30 years of clinical experience as a Family Physician Specialist.

    • Multidisciplinary expertise with advanced qualifications in Occupational Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, Medical Education, and Leadership.

    • Director of Quality Improvement and the Doctors' Health & Wellbeing Programme at the Irish College of GPs.

  • Core Philosophy:

"Healthcare environments that support workforce health and wellbeing are essential for good quality healthcare because they enable physicians to focus on the domains of quality care: safe, efficient, person-centered, timely, effective, equitable, and sustainable."

A "Clinical Intervention" for the GP Workforce

Interviewer: Dr. Rochfort, GPs across Europe are facing unprecedented pressure. Why should a busy frontline GP make the effort to attend the EQuiP Conference 2026 in Krakow with the theme Strengthening the Heart of Primary Care: Well-being and Resilience in Family Physicians?

Dr. Andrée Rochfort: I understand how pressurised many doctors feel by workload and that they must not take time away from their clinical work to attend a conference for professional development. We are in a workforce crisis, and that is recognised globally. To strengthen the heart of primary care we must strengthen and support the people at the heart of it, the primary care doctors who connect with patients each day in the community. So, I encourage GPs to attend this conference, to actively contribute to the interactive sessions and to join their voices to a collective movement advocating for stronger primary care.

The theme "Strengthening the Heart of Primary Care: Well-being and Resilience in Family Physicians" is a direct response to this crisis. Attending EQuiP 2026  https://conference.qualityfamilymedicine.eu/page/home is a "clinical intervention" for the future of GPs currently in practice and GPs coming behind us. This event brings family doctors together in the context of shared learning. When we interact with colleagues from across Europe in these events, we realise our challenges are shared common issues. This recognition reduces professional isolation and inspires solution-focussed work and practical interventions that we can implement in our work to improve resilience and work environments for our own benefit, for colleagues and of course for patients.

By focusing on the Quadruple Aim, which adds the goal of improving the working lives of healthcare professionals to the traditional Triple Aim of health system performance, we acknowledge that the health of the health system also depends on the health of the doctor. At the conference in Krakow, there will be a wide range of presentations and topics to provide practical information on Quality Improvement (QI) tools to help manage the increasing workload in primary care with a renewed sense of professional values. It is about professional development, refuelling your oxygen mask so you can continue to care for others.

 

Lessons from the Doctors’ Health & Wellbeing Programme

Interviewer: On Friday, May 22, you are delivering a keynote on "Sustaining the Medical Workforce." What are the core lessons you bring to this keynote from the Doctors’ Health & Wellbeing programme of the Irish College of GPs, and your experience with EQuiP?

Dr. Andrée Rochfort: The key lessons learned from my experience of connecting with other doctors nationally and internationally, and from research and medical education activities are the central importance of doctors developing a structured approach to job satisfaction, self-care and resilience and not leaving it to chance. This approach requires both individual and institutional involvement, to develop and promote continuous personal and professional development. My presentation will outline a rationale for a Model Framework to address Resilience and Job Satisfaction; these two factors are important for coping with complexity which is now the hallmark of general practice and primary care.

Participants will hear how these are not "soft skills of medicine" and how they are grounded in scientific evidence. A doctor who feels supported in their work by their health system and medical education system provides safer care. Strengthening the "Heart of Primary Care" means supporting people, the primary care physicians and other professionals in their working environments in the community. These are the people at the centre of patient care, providing continuity, coordinating clinical care and decision-making interventions for each patient; they do not and should not work in professional isolation.

Prioritizing Joy in Family Medicine

Interviewer: You are also preparing a workshop titled "Job Satisfaction and Joy in General Practice supporting Quality Care." Why focus on "Joy" in such a high-pressure environment?

Dr. Andrée Rochfort: Compassionate care and enthusiasm is a source of joy at work, but spread over decades of a medical career on the frontline can be a challenge. Sticking with any pressurised job is helped by having enjoyable work in a supportive environment. In family medicine clinicians can engage on many levels with many people, colleagues in the clinic, in hospitals, people in other parts of the health service and with patients and patients’ families. When a doctor finds joy in their work, communication improves and patient safety culture strengthens. In the WONCA Europe SIG on Doctors’ Health, we view job enjoyment not as a bonus, but as a critical factor for workforce retention. If we lose the joy, we lose care quality, and the doctor. Our proposed EQuiP workshop presentation is an interactive collaborative team effort that will identify what specifically contributes to that joy and how we can advocate for these factors to stakeholders—governments, managers, and regulators.

Connecting Krakow to Paris 2026

Interviewer: How do the outcomes of this Krakow workshop feed into the upcoming WONCA Europe Conference in Paris 2026?

Dr. Andrée Rochfort: At the EQuiP conference in Krakow we will gather international viewpoints on connecting quality of care with joy in delivering that care. The feedback from participants in Krakow will inform the introduction to our EQuiP workshop Paris 2026 which has been accepted, and we plan to dig deep on the aspects of the GP job that brings joy, job satisfaction, engagement and commitment to the work. We are moving from identifying problems to identifying the structural and process changes that can support the primary care workforce across all of Europe.

The Final Prescription

Interviewer: And your final "prescription" for the delegates?

Dr. Andrée Rochfort: A robust, daily dose of laughter! While we are going to Krakow to do the serious work of "Strengthening the Heart of Primary Care," we must remember that humour is a scientifically proven powerful physiological tool for resilience. Even though people bring their problems and concerns to us at work, and this is serious, we also have many lighter moments with patients and their families, and interprofessional colleagues. It is through these happy human connections at the heart of primary care that we can really enjoy the job and this is one of the most effective ways to lower our collective cortisol and sustain our workforce for the long haul.

Conference Sidebar

Join Us at EQuiP Krakow 2026

Theme: Strengthening the Heart of Primary Care: Well-being and Resilience in Family Physicians Location: Krakow, Poland

Dates: May 21–23, 2026

Join Dr. Andrée Rochfort and primary care leaders from across Europe to gain practical tools for resilience and quality care.

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