• workload - and thus our income, and
• conditions - we can take on more work or reduce it as we wish;
• many practices own their own premises - ours is a lovely old listed building;
• we employ our staff - so practices can build super practice teams;
• no fixed salary - our drawings are the difference between the practice gross income (largely fees per patient or item or service) and expenditure (e.g. staff costs, premises, drugs).

However, all this brings responsibility - for:

• patient care;
• our staff;
• our premises;
• our income.

Opportunity for other methods of working
Locums - these self-employed GPs can do anything from the occasional session in a practice to a 6-month maternity locum.
Assistants - GPs who are employed by a practice to work one or more sessions per week.
Retainers - they work 1-4 sessions per week in a practice; it's a little like being an assistant, but there is some educational supervision.
We have an you can find it on-line study guide that explains more about these job options

Bath Locum and Assistants Group has been set up to support GP locums & assistants working in Bath and the surrounding area. The BLAG webpage tells you more.

Choice of workload
Full-time in our area means 8-9 sessions (half days) per week, though a typical session is 5 hours.

Less and less new GPs want to work at this rate, and many (both men and women) opt to work part-time.

Locums and partners can decide how much annual or study leave they want to take in a year. For instance, partners in our practice take 6 weeks annual leave and 1 week study leave, with the opportunity for a sabbatical every 4 years.

Of course, the less you work, the less you earn!

Home life
As soon as they have completed their Registrar year, GPs can start putting down roots - much sooner than in the specialities.

The decent income means that we can enjoy a good standard of living. But, if we work full-time, we may not be at home much to appreciate it.

Many of us have a "work hard/play hard" approach that helps them to enjoy life to the full. For instance, in our practice, each of the three partners cycles or runs competitively.

Public attitude
GPs enjoy a high social status. In surveys of the general public, GPs regularly come out as the most respected and trusted professionals.

The income
We are well paid.

In our patch:

full-time GP principals probably earn £90-110k per year, though expect to work 60-70 hours per week;
locums typically earn £300 per day. All these figures are before tax.
New GPs can reach that income fairly early in their careers, sometimes 1-2 years after qualifying as a GP. However, apart from a seniority allowance, GPs in their 60s don't earn any more than their 30-year-old colleagues.

The shortage of GPs
Well, for me that's a problem, but for a new GP it's a great advantage - there is a competitive market for locums and partnerships, and there are more vacancies than there are new GPs. So, you can:

• choose when you join a practice - it won't harm your career if you spend a year travelling around the world or keep your options open;
• decide where you want to practice - there are more vacancies than applicants (though some areas are more sought-after than others);
• get plenty of work and earn a lot as a locum;
• have a strong hand when you negotiate your salary or partnership package;
• change partnerships if you wish (this used to be almost unknown).

So, what's the down side?
I see some doctors transferring from hospital specialities because they think general practice is an easier option - it isn't.

Being a GP is hard work, and full-time implies 60-70 hours per week, which is why fewer GPs now choose to work full-time.

Written by: Michael Harris

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This page was last updated on: 26 January 2008