What helps and hinders GP-capacity to support young people?

General Practitioners (GPs) are the clinicians young people are most likely to access. However, the rate at which they do this is less than ideal, especially in light of the health and mental health issues they experience. The purpose of this study is to optimise GP-capacity to promote youth health. This was addressed by conducting four focus groups with GPs to identify the factors that help and hinder this capacity. Findings suggest that the participants considered working with young people to be challenging. This was largely because of: (1) communication difficulties; (2) the complexity of youth health; (2) limited time; and (3) limited networks to draw on. These findings suggest that interventions to promote GP-capacity may prove more effective if these four factors are addressed. Although training might alleviate the communication difficulties, systemic change is required to optimise and sustain youth health.