Job Scene for new GPs

well timed article. 1. The situation is undoubtedly worse.Newly qualified GPs are struggling to find jobs.Some have to move hundreds of miles to simply get a job.Some have to chose to live separately from their family as they have been unable to find jobs around where they live.Partnerships have completely dried up.Even long term locums are difficult to get. 2. Intake of GPs has gone up in last few years, increased by government and that General practice has been attractive as never before given more stability,improved income and work life balance after the new contract.Secondly,with government trying its tricks to get money off practices along with pay freeze(in reality, pay cuts) , it is a tightrope walk for a lot of practices.It is financially damaging to employ more doctors.Instead,It is more profitable to replace partners with salaried doctors.This has created almost a second class of GPs. 4 The market is flooded with doctors. Feeling let down by the government, by the profession and by the system,it is no wonder that they will be ready to work for tescos or boots.It is not rocket science to work out that with more availability, wages are likely to go down.Is it a long devilish plan by the government or just the pendulum swinging the other way, remains to be seen. It is worth having a debate within the profession about replacing partnerships with salaried doctors.This new hierarchy may be an onset of demise of primary care specialists or primary care consultants , they might be called in future.The department of health needs to give incentives to the practices that recruit new partners. I think that is not far from true feelings of a newly qualified GP
I am fortunate to have found a job and at a place, where I am being gradually introduced to management aspects of practice.This salaried post is by choice as I did not feel ready for partnership straightaway, however out of a group of about 30 newly qualified GPs, only one was able to find a partnership after finishing VTS.This is not an unusual scenario.
Sincerely
Dr Kamal Sidhu