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Five tips for starting out as a GP locum

23rd December 2021 by Dr Charles Elliott

Five tips for starting out as a GP locum

Looking for up to date info? Read our updated ‘starting out’ guide, out 7 March.

1 Ask yourself what is important to your locum career

The first thing you need to ask yourself as a newly-qualified GP is what do you want from work and what your priorities around work are – this will guide how you find your work as a sessional GP.

You may have worked as a trainee in a practice that you feel comfortable in; maybe you are a good fit in that team and feel you would benefit from having the support from a practice that you already know – that’s fine. If the environment is one you can feel comfortable and thrive in then it’s a great place to start. You could start your career working as a salaried GP or perhaps a fixed term locum covering maternity, or even by offering additional sessions which CCGs provide ‘winter’ funding for during periods of high demand – lots of these right now!

Alternatively, you might have a group of practices that you know others in, or that are local to a hospital with referral pathways and community services that you are familiar with – this is also a good way to start after VTS.

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"Going from being a trainee to being a GP can be a really difficult transition. Taking on the administration associated with things like locum work can make that even more difficult.

Ali from LocumDeck showed me how to use their tool to simplify and automate the invoicing and locum form process to save me time and energy. With the free one-year membership for new GPs this was a real no-brainer that meant I could spend more time on the things that really matter, and less time filling in paperwork.

I can't thank Ali enough for her help and the time she has saved me."

Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, GP, London

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