Free at last!

By the time you read this I will be a free man. Free from the shackles of being a salaried GP! I will have stepped out into the big wide world and blinked at the bright sunshine. Much like the old chap, Brooks Hatlen, did in The Shawshank Redemption, (hopefully I won’t end up the same way he did). I will join the ranks of locum GPs and pimp my skills to any practice that wants me.

I think I have become a bit institutionalised at my current practice having been there since I gained my GP qualifications. It was actually a big shock to go to other practices to see how other doctors work. I was actually shocked to see that in some practices the doctors meet up regularly and talk, divide up visits fairly and seem happy. I forgot that there are better jobs out there. It is not as scary as you think. Being a locum gives you a lot of freedom and a set workload (a novelty indeed).

It also made me realise how hugely dependent some practices have become by relying on salaried GPs to do the bulk of the work. If more salarieds say no and get up and leave, or become locums then perhaps things will change as some Partners don’t seem to listen to our concerns unless it affects them where it hurts, in their pockets.

I’d like to claim that I got so fed up of being dumped on and taken advantage of, that I stormed into the practice managers office and slapped down my resignation letter on the desk and bellowed a few choice words at him. Sadly the somewhat unglamourous truth is that I was too cowardly to do the above. My fellow salaried colleague did actually do something similar to the above and I don’t think any of the partners forgave him and didn’t speak to him after that. I hid behind my wife’s career. We have to move so she can complete her training so that was my excuse for leaving. I didn’t want to make waves and I need decent references (my colleague didn’t as he became a Partner at another practice). Things have got quite strained at work – 4 salaried GPs leaving over the next few months – and I didn’t want to add to the shitstorm