Sessional GPs
By definition these are doctors who are
working in general practice but who do not hold a contract with a
health authority or board to provide general medical services for a
registered population. Some doctors have a preference and some have
a need for general practice work which can be fitted in with family
or other commitments; which does not require large sums of capital;
and which is more easily suited to the needs of those who require
geographical mobility. Doctors practice in both urban and rural
settings. There may be a mobile population with a large number of
temporary residents such as tourists or a relatively static
one.
Read about Penny Finn's career below or learn
how to become a sessional GP with Craig Masson's guide.
Penny Finn practices in Suffolk
How long have you been in General
Practice?
I worked as an assistant GP in
the East End of London for about two years after completing house
jobs. After the birth of my first son we moved and as I
wasn’t ‘certified’ I could not continue with GP work. I
worked as a clinical assistant in rehab medicine and artificial
limb fitting and rehab then in A&E in a busy unit. I
started my training in 1998 and spent 6 years working part
time, the last 3 years (2000-2003) as a registrar. I have
worked as a GP ever since.
What made you decide to become a
GP?
There were several reasons. When I first started
medicine there were no part time consultants and family life was
very important to me so I couldn’t see a way of doing both.
There were part time GPs. I loved hospital medicine but over
time found the lack of personal relationship and inability to see a
problem through completely frustrating. I am at a stage now
of loving general practice and would encourage all Doctors to spend
some time in general practice.
What made you decide to become a locum
GP?
I wanted to look around to see what was
available. I also wanted the flexibility to take time off for
the children and freedom to be my own boss. It also gave me
flexibility to have a portfolio career.
Were you trained in any other
specialties? Please give details.
I have
the diploma in palliative care
What are your current roles? Please
list.
- Locum GP
- Cancer Lead for the PCT
- GP Tutor for University of East Anglia training Year 4 medical
students
- Clinical Assistant at St Nicholas Hospice
- Trained GP Registrars during OOH sessions
How many hours would you say are in
your average working week?
5 sessions as a GP, 2
sessions training GP, 1 session for the PCT and ½ Session OOH a
week
How do you spend those
hours?
|
Activity
|
Time expressed in hours
|
|
Seeing patients in surgery
|
14
|
|
Seeing patient in home visits
|
3
|
|
Seeing patients out of hours
|
4
|
|
Team meetings
|
½
|
|
Doing paperwork
|
3-6 depending on practice
|
|
Teaching / Training
|
8
|
|
Continuing Professional Development
|
1
|
|
Other 2
|
PCT work 4-5
|
|
Childcare
|
The rest of the time I am a mum!
|
Do you have any special clinical
interests?
Palliative Care
What has been your career high point
so far? / What do you enjoy most about general
practice?
Making a correct diagnosis clinically and
sending the patient to the Hospital to have the diagnosis
confirmed. Helping patients through difficult times and see them
come out the other end in one piece.
What do you enjoy
least?
The first of many rejections to do GP training
as a flexible trainee, having to organise all my own jobs with
little help and fighting to get numbers in order to complete my VTS
forms. Paper work and QOF point hunting is a waste of time and
takes you away from giving your full attention to the patient
during consultations.
What is different about being a locum
to being a Principal/partner?
The good points are
that you can walk away from the practice once all your clinical
work is completed. The bad point is that you have no say in
how things are run. You have to move from place to place as a locum
where as a partner doesn’t have to learn ‘how to do it’ or ‘where
is it’ each time.
- Locum has no security in their job or their
health or if they fall pregnant.
- Locum has to complete all their own paperwork
and sort out their pensions.
- Locum can take holidays when they like but
partners can’t.
- Appraisal will be hard for locums as they are
not in a ‘managed environment’.
- Locum can diversify if they wish (though I
became to diversified and found my mind couldn’t think about all
the different activities enough).
What three words would you use to
describe General Practice?
I Love It!
Continuity Challenge Scary
What do you know about general
practice now that you wish you had known when you
started?
Difficult to answer because it has changed
so much in the last 2 years losing OOH, I guess beware of the
Governments interference and continued change and paper
work.
If you were making your career choice
now, what would you choose?
GP but I would
become skilled at something to diploma level in order to offer that
service to my practice or as a GPwSI.