GP locum rates increased in some parts of the country
The rising demand for locum cover is not showing any signs of abating, though the average rates across the country seem to have stayed largely the same as last year, however in certain areas particularly the north there was an increase as opposed to the West Midlands.
“In England, only 18% of respondents to the poll said that they had increased their rates over the past 12 months. Some 78% said that their rates had remained the same and just 4% said they had cut their rates.” — GPonline.com
Editor – It seems the move by many doctors to provide services to digital private companies may be offsetting the average rise in rates.
GPs with a side Hustle
We interview practicing GPs with a side hustle. If covid has taught us one thing it is not to put all our eggs in one basket.
Dr David Onwubalili
A locum GP uses his voice for a very interesting side hustle.
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Surgery in Cornwall seek inventive ways to entice locums
A PM in Cornwall sent out tweets to honey trap locums into working some sessions whilst holidaying in Cornwall.
If you’re a GP coming down to Cornwall on holiday, and you fancy a locum session or two (to help pay for the extortionate costs of the hols) please give me a shout….you might like what you see! pic.twitter.com/54BupSUTND
— Nic D (@toptottieNic) July 13, 2021
Editor – I am sure that remote and rural surgeries will start using more services such as Accurex and Horizon which allows remote GP access to their IT systems and facilitating telephone consultations.
Why is face to face” the holy grail?
The government is whipping up a frenzy of negative public feeling towards GPs, calling for a greater number of face-to-face appointments. They are leveraging the stoked-up public anger as a stick whilst waving a carrot for surgeries to receive funding if they hit the face-to-face targets.
It seems absurd that politicians are holding up face to face appointments as “the gold standard in care” when a lot of the time many problems can be dealt with expeditiously via remote consultations. It’s strange that just prior to the pandemic there was a push by Whitehall to offer more remote consultations!
Surgeries should be congratulated for innovating in order to survive in the face of the avalanche of demand. They have utilised new technologies and streamlined new processes in order to be the most effective with diminished resources and workforce.
There are not enough Locum GPs to plug the gap in the work force and they will be called upon more and more for help in these tough times. I anticipate the demand for locum work with be heightened this winter.
Stay safe!
There has been a large increase of the amount of abuse surgeries have been facing recently with unprecedented demand for GP consultations. Some surgeries have reported abuse in 1 in 4 calls and it’s an important time to make sure GPs and practice staff stay safe whilst working. Particularly in light of the recent assault on a GP that occurred in Manchester
How to stay safe in General Practice? Watch video to learn!
Burnout Busting
We are great in giving advice and looking after others, but its time to check in with ourselves see if everything is hunki dori.
Truthfully, about a year ago I found myself getting a bit craggy at work and I realised I ust wasn’t being “me”, so I had to reset.
I looked up the symptoms of burnout, do you have any of these?
- Being moody or irritable
- Feeling tired
- Feeling worried/anxious a lot of the time
- Hating work
If the answer is no then it’s time to do something about it – when’s the last time you took a break? You don’t need to fly anywhere just a weekend away as a city break or somewhere with nature, disconnect If the answer is yes then its time to do something about it- when’s the last time you took a break? You don’t need to fly anywhere just a weekend away as a city break or somewhere with nature, disconnect and recharge!
