Marketing
Overseas GPs to Be Recruited for UK
The number of GPs is set to see a sharp increase, according to Simon Stevens’ international recruitment programme. The Chief Executive of NHS England announced his plans in July, which has aggressive acceleration targets to boost the current GP workforce.
This scheme was announced as official NHS figures showed that the number of full-time (equivalent) GPs working increased by less than 1% between March and June 2017. The original aim of the project was to recruit around 500-600 doctors into general practice in some of the hardest to recruit areas in England, with a deadline target of 2020/2021. These plans include recruitment costs, and the relocation and training of overseas doctors.
Tenders on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) site also show that NHS England is calling for recruitment firms to support the programme.
Why the lack of GPs in the UK?
Well, despite GP training places increasing year-on-year and many GPs returning to practice, there is still a lack of doctors. A significant number of older GPs are retiring earlier, further reducing the number of doctors. Figures published by NHS Digitalshow a decrease of 542 GPs, as the figures dropped from 34,914 GPs in March 2016 to 34,372 in March 2017.
In attempts to combat this, Local Medical Committee(LMC) representatives are proposing to call on the General Practitioners Committee(GPC) to ask NHS England to invest in locum chambers in order to recruit and retain more GPs.
GP leaders have also proposed a new ‘locum plus’ way of working that would give structure to locums to work in rotation with a broad spectrum of practices, by the way of fixed-term salaried contracts.
These plans will be put forward by the sessional GPs subcommittee on Friday 10th November in London at the inaugural GPC England conference.
Locum chambers: a new way of working
An NASGPsurvey showed that 80% of locums said they were still GPs only because of chambers. Chairman of the NASGP, Dr Richard Fieldhouse told GPonlinethat locum chambers are a ‘fantastic vehicle to recruit and retain GP locums’, and he encourages plans to roll them out across the country.
Chambers - as a way of working - are often seen in other professional outfits like barristers, and they enable locums to keep their self-employed status whilst still having some support services by co-operative arrangements.
Dr Fieldhouse also said: ‘It’s much nicer working as a team, it’s more independent – GPs who work in chambers adore them, it is an excellent model. However, what we haven’t yet got right is the pricing, because they are very expensive to run.’
If you would like to register your interest in locum work then please email us at keylocums@keylocums.com or call us at 0844 561 0950.
We look forward to working with you soon.
How did you feel on your first day as an ANP?
I was apprehensive as I had never worked in the department before. However, the staff at Key Locums reassured me and gave me confidence. I had not done agency work for many years, Ricky, Gurpreet and Sarah, in particular, have been very supportive.
How many years have you been practising medicine?
30 years. I have always continually updated myself with knowledge and skills and extended my practice over the years. Agency work develops a different kind of confidence.
What’s been the most challenging aspect of your profession?
The challenges are reducing the gaps in your knowledge. It cannot always be done by doing a course. Although, it is important to improve your theoretical knowledge. Your patients are your teachers. You learn and improve your diagnostic and consulting skills by listening and observing.
Do you have a particular work memory that stands out?
There are many memories that stand out. Strive to be confidently competent. Remember – we are ALWAYS learning.
If you were not an ANP then what would you be?
Being a barrister has always appealed to me, especially watching “Law & Order” etc. However, I would have loved to be a dancer/singer.
Do you have any advice for future ANP’s?
Do not confine your knowledge and become insular in your practice. Patients who have diabetes and COPD – They have 2 diagnoses, but one impacts on the other. Be a sponge and absorb and explore. Reflect often, be truthful in your self-analysis. Then you will timely learn.
If you would like to register your interest in locum work then please email us at keylocums@
We look forward to working with you soon.
Q&A with a Locum GP
We interviewed one of our full-time Locums about what it's like to be a GP, here's what he had to say.
How did you feel on your first day as a GP?
It was somewhat daunting! As a GP registrar, there was always someone available to answer even the smallest of queries I had. As a fully qualified GP and having entered the ‘real’ world, I appreciated all the advice and guidance I had been given by my mentors during my training, which has been immensely useful.
How many years have you been practising medicine?
I have been a doctor now, for around 8 years or so.
What’s been the most challenging aspect of your profession?
I really feel that the work load in general practice can be immense at times. Managing a patient in an allocated 10 minute consultation slot, is sometimes very tricky! Don’t forget, that in this time a GP will need to work out what the problems is by taking a history, they may need to examine the patient and then offer appropriate treatment. Furthermore, patients may need further investigations or referrals done. This can be very challenging to do in 10 minutes.
Do you have a particular work memory that stands out?
Yes! A few years back, I had a patient with mental health problems, come back into surgery to personally thank me for taking the time to understand and relate to their circumstances. It is always lovely to see that the efforts we put in as medical professionals can make a positive difference to our patients. That’s what we’re here for after all!
If you wasn't a GP then what would you be?
Easy – It’d have to be as a recruitment consultant with Key Locums or possibly a Pilot, travelling the world and meeting new people; similar to being a GP, meeting different patient’s on a daily basis. This is why I locum as a GP, as I prefer to travel to different surgeries and areas.
Do you have any advice for our future generation of GP’s?
I feel that primary care is the back bone of the health service. Yes, it is difficult and very challenging at times, but it is immensely rewarding too! Always ensure that you have a good work- life balance, as burnout is a real risk. If you strike a good balance, you’ll thoroughly enjoy working as a GP/ANP.
If you would like to register your interest in locum work then please email us at keylocums@keylocums.com or call us at 0844 561 0950.
We look forward to working with you soon.
A Q&A with the bookings team
We think we've covered a lot but if there's anything else you'd like to know about us then email us on keylocums@keylocums.com . If your question is good enough we may even feature it on our website!
What made you want to go into recruitment?
Sarah: As a teenager, I saw recruitment as a really glamourous profession! (this was back in the early 90’s haha) I had heard about all the networking dinners and events, and I thought it must be so interesting meeting all those new people from different backgrounds. Ultimately though I went into recruitment as I wanted to help others in their career.
Gurpreet: I liked the idea of helping people find the perfect position and the challenge of medical recruitment appealed to me.
Ricky: I never thought of recruitment when studying but I came across it after I got my degree and have been in the game since. I enjoy meeting new people and hope that every working day is different, so it turned out to be the perfect role for me.
How did you feel on your first day?
Sarah: Although I have been in sales, account management, and business development for 20 years, my first foray into recruitment was as a compliance officer. It was nerve-racking as there is a lot of safeguarding and data protection involved in this role. My progression into recruitment was quite a natural step for me from compliance, and since then I haven’t looked back.
Gurpreet: I was really nervous, this was my first ever job and I was straight out of uni! Having to deal with such highly professional people was really daunting, but it turns out they're only human and I quickly found common ground with my candidates!
Ricky: Nervous, as that’s the general feeling on a first day. But ready to learn new things and get stuck in
How many years have you been in recruitment?
Sarah: I have been in recruitment now for 6 years.
Gurpreet: Just over 4 years
Ricky: 7.5 years
What’s been the most challenging aspect of your profession?
Sarah: As a 360 consultant it is difficult to juggle all your responsibilities i.e. advertising, budgets, payroll, resourcing, compliance etc but you quickly learn that time management is the key!
Gurpreet: Keeping up with all the changes this sector has gone through over the years.
Ricky: When external factors hit the market which has a knock on effect to what we can offer, whether it be shifts, rates etc I never like to disappoint the client or candidate.
Do you have a particular work memory that stands out?
Sarah: I’ve spoken to 100s of people throughout the years, but one always sticks in my mind. The candidate was an American who had been in special ops and was now moving into a professorial role in regards to Terrorism. He was a master of 6 martial arts, including jungle warfare. When I spoke to him, he really was a fascinating person, but of course, due to confidentiality, I couldn’t possibly divulge what he told me haha. The things he must have seen, hey!
Gurpreet: Well, as you can imagine, it’s always a great feeling when you get a new candidate to register. But I always remember this one specific time when a newly qualified GP called in to find out about registering with us. She was lovely and so eager to sign up that she sent me all her compliance documents whilst I had her on the phone and I got her booked out for the very next day. After 4 years of working together, we still speak almost every day!
Ricky: Receiving gifts from candidates, it’s always nice to be rewarded especially when it’s unexpected.
If you weren’t in recruitment, then what would you be doing?
Sarah: Ooh good question, I would like to think I'd be in either fashion or a profession caring for others.
Gurpreet: Hmm... in an ideal world my days would be spent around dogs (lol) – so having my own dog shelter
Ricky: It would be a job where I would meet new people, possibly travel and every day is different. I’ve done some modeling and really enjoyed those aspects of the job.
Do you have any advice for our future generation of medical recruitment consultants?
Sarah: You will need drive and ambition…and remember to treat clients and candidates with the respect they deserve, building relationships is important in this sector.
Gurpreet: Just be open and upfront with both your candidates and clients. No matter what you offer, they will work with you because of the person that you are – so make sure you always treat them the way you’d want to be treated.
Ricky: To have fun with the role and offer a personalised service. Ensure you are organised and on the ball at all times
Health Education England (HEE) has invited healthcare employers, nurses, care assistants, commissioners and stakeholders to comment on the design of a new nursing support role
The new role will “bridge the gap” between health and care support, and will work alongside fully-qualified registered nurses delivering hands on care and ensuring the best care possible for patients, according to HEE.
Professor Lisa Bayliss Pratt, director of nursing for HEE, said: “We need a new type of care worker with a higher skillset who can deliver person-centred care in all health and social care settings.
“I believe that this new enhanced role can assist, strengthen and complement the care given by graduate registered nurses.
“In addition it will create a career pathway that offers progression opportunities and gives a job satisfaction to those who want to develop themselves in this important profession.”
The consultation seeks healthcare professionals’ views on whether the new role should be regulated, learning outcomes and principles.
Commenting on the new role, Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “Healthcare assistants have a vital role to play and are of huge value to patients and nurses alike, and they deserve training, development and regulation.
“Support workers should also be given improved access into the nursing profession if they wish, but this must be through the graduate pathway.”
Unison, the public service union, said the government’s plans to introduce a new nursing role is no solution to the current nursing shortage.
Christina McAnea, Unison head of health, said: “The government must look at the nursing family as a whole and ensure there is a consistent structure to improve the training and prospects of health care assistants and assistant practitioners, including those who want to progress all the way to qualify as registered nurses.
“There is no quick fix to plug the gaping shortages of registered nurses which have been made worse as a result of the cap on agency spending and the clampdown on nurses from overseas.”
The consultation closes on 11 March.
Patients will be able to register with GPs and get medical advice through a smartphone app by the end of next year, under radical new plans being announced by the health secretary later today.
Jeremy Hunt will announce later today at Health and Care Innovation Expo in Manchester a ‘multimillion pound package’ to expand digital services, including a new online triage service for NHS 111.
There will also be a new ‘transparency drive’ that will provide information on local quality of services for cancer, dementia, diabetes, mental health, learning disabilities and maternity care, he will say.
But the GPC has warned that a ‘symptom checker’ is no replacement for a GP consultation.
There are few details about how the app will work as yet, but a Department of Health statement said: ‘Patients will soon be able to register with a GP, access healthcare records and get medical advice via their tablet or smartphone all in one place.
‘The new services, which will become available from the end of next year, are intended to make the NHS easier to use for the increasing numbers of people using smartphones and other mobile devices to access public services.’
The DH says that the new NHS 111 online triage service will ‘enable patients to enter their symptoms online and get tailored advice or a call-back from a healthcare professional according to their needs’.
Under the plans, NHS Choices will be renamed nhs.uk, and will allow patients to register with a GP, see and book appointments, and order and track prescriptions all in one place.
‘This is a way of supplementing patients seeing their doctor in a more conventional, face-to-face setting, and crucially it will give people more choice and the opportunity to access healthcare in a way that works for them.’
Dr Brian Balmer, GPC negotiator, said: ’any new technology that improves patient care and access is of course to be to be welcomed, especially if it makes booking appointments easier for GPs and patients. But this should not replace direct access to a GP who patients should see if they have health concerns.
‘The proposed symptom checker is not the same as a consultation with a GP and should not be considered as such. In addition, the scale of the funds being committed to this project is questionable given that GP practices across the country are struggling badly, with more than 300 telling the BMA recently they are facing closure. This is what ministers should be working to put right as a priority.’
From Pulse: http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/your-practice/practice-topics/it/hunt-patients-to-register-with-gps-and-receive-health-advice-through-app/20032746.article
Following the Brexit vote, he stated that the NHS will still require committed professional staff from abroad and expressed a desire that all foreign NHS workers must be given early assurances that they remain welcome in Britain.
Doctors, nurses and other skilled experts from around the world are necessary to overcome staff shortfalls within the NHS service. Staffing agencies such as Key Locums and our sister company MedicsPro work with the NHS to source qualified, compliant locum, temporary and permanent staff from the UK and around the world.
A coalition of health experts have drawn up a strategy to tackle the UK’s general lack of exercise across the country. Supposedly, the health complications that arise from the issue costs the economy an estimated £20bn per year, with the loss of around 37,000 lives.
The government, along with the NHS and organisation UKactive have created ‘Blueprint for an Active Britain’ a strategy to see the Department of Health, Work and Pensions to take action across the NHS, social services, public transport and the workplace to create a more physically active approach on-going to tackle the issue. Changing the public’s habits ahead of future health complications is a top priority.
A key recommendation from the pilot scheme is to introduce a trained physical activity professional into each GP surgery to help patients improve fitness, cardio-respiratory and mental health. The care will be delivered similarly to that of GPs’ access to physiotherapists for patients in need.
The coalition claim that the minimal costs to introduce the scheme will quickly off-set the on-going costs to treat in-active health issues, in that prevention is easier, and in this case cheaper, than treatment.
Tanni Grey-Thompson, UKactive’s chair, and British Paralympic champion said “We know that physical activity programmes only attract around 4% of public health funding at present. This is much lower than funding to tackle alcohol abuse, obesity and STDs, despite physical inactivity contributing to more premature deaths. It’s vital that helping people to establish good exercise habits is central to the NHS’s core business.”
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News in that GP trainees will now be offered £20,000 as an incentive payment take jobs in areas currently understaffed as part of a Health Education England initiative.
It’s estimated that 1 in 9 GP vacancies in England were unfilled in the East Midlands and the North East regions. In order to counter this, trainees will be offered incentives of £20K by the HEE, to take up jobs in the areas worst affected.
Maureen Baker, the RCGP chairperson welcomed the announcement, stating: ‘This initiative is something that the college has been proposing for some time, and we are pleased to see it being implemented,’
‘It is just one initiative in the 10-point-plan to build the GP workforce that the college launched last year with NHS England, HEE and the BMA and we will continue to work with the government and decision makers to "recruit, retain, return" the thousands more GPs necessary to keep our profession – and the wider NHS – sustainable.
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Amongst the on-going debate around junior doctors’ weekend working conditions, NHS bosses announce that nurses, paramedics and pharmacists could be trained to fill junior doctor rotas in a bid to support the demand in care.
A Nuffield Trust review was conducted to look at how the current workforce could be reshaped to address the issue. The review found that staff were already being used to fill in for hospital doctors and GPs in some instances.
With the increasing number of patients needing treatment, and the gap in rotas on the up, hospitals struggling to cope, look to other outlets to relieve the pressure.
But union bosses told The Independent that the changes must not be made at the expense of good quality training for doctors themselves.
According to the report, some junior doctors’ posts have been catered for across the country, with Sheffield Teaching Hospital Trust using nurses in their place within accident and emergency units, surgery and paediatrics. 10 GP practices in York and Hull have employed pharmacists to see patients to review medicine.
Candace Imison, report author and Nuffield Trust Director of Policy, said in a statement: “Our research shows that reshaping the NHS workforce can offer huge opportunities – for patients, through improved health outcomes, and for staff, through more rewarding roles and better career pathways.
“But we stress in our report that this is not simply a ‘nice to do’ – it is urgent, and essential if the Health Service is to find a sustainable balance between available funding, patient needs and staff needs, and deliver services fit for the 21st century”.
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