GPs are a valued and vital part of the NHS team. Regardless of where you are on your career path – considering the specialty, straight out of training, in your mid-career or nearing retirement – Greater Manchester can offer you opportunities to develop a rewarding and sustainable career in general practice. Find out more by exploring the sections below.
Download the interactive GP Support diagram below
General practitioners (GPs) treat all common medical conditions and refer patients to hospitals and other medical services for urgent and specialist treatment. They focus on the health of the whole person combining physical, psychological and social aspects of care.
General practitioners have an important role in looking after patients in their homes and within the communities where they live. They are part of a much wider team whose role includes promoting, preventing and initiating treatment. GPs look after patients with chronic illness, with the aim to keep people in their own homes and ensuring they are as well as they possibly can be.
GPs are often the first point of contact for anyone with a physical or mental health problem and patients can be at their most anxious. Looking after the whole person – the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, cultural and economic aspects through patient-centred approaches is a vital part of any GP’s role. This is becoming more important with terminally ill patients often choosing to stay at home.
There are over 1.3 million GP consultations in the UK every day, most of which take place in a GP surgery or within the patient’s home. GPs occasionally work as part of teams attached to hospitals with roles in accident and emergency centres, discharge planning and in unscheduled care (such as urgent care centres). In the community they may run clinics in schools and in residential and nursing care homes.
Training to become a GP
With so many roles and options on offer, it’s a fantastic time to be a GP in Greater Manchester and to build a career as diverse as you wish. You can develop your skills, gain experience and find a combination of responsibilities that suit your career aspirations and your work/life requirements.
Early Career GPs
What are your options once you qualify as an GP? It’s never too early to start thinking about the kind of direction you want to take your career in – or simply to start looking into what opportunities are available to you. Find out more »
Experienced GPs
As an experienced GP, you may be considering how you would like to develop your career – perhaps taking on more leadership responsibility, going into partnership or developing a speciality. You may also have added personal responsibilities, such as caring for a child or family member and may be looking for ways to achieve a better work-life balance.
Medical Education
Courses are available for GPs who wish to clinically supervise the wider workforce in a Primary Care learning environment. This workforce includes Pharmacists, Physician Associates, International GPs and Advanced Healthcare Practitioners in line with the NHS Long Term Plan and the new GP Contract. There is also a GMC requirement to be an approved Clinical Supervisor if a GP is taking on this role. Find out more »
Tier 2 Doctors
Tier 2 is an immigration route for non-European Economic Area (EEA) migrants who wish to work in the UK. Tier 2 GP Trainees are sponsored by Health Education England (HEE), but that sponsorship ends when they complete training and so must find employment with a new sponsoring organisation or must return to their home country. NHS England provides financial support to newly qualified Tier 2 GPs to help them remain in the UK. Find out more »
International GPs
NHS England is supporting family doctors who work in European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Australia to come and work in England, whether you were trained as a family doctor / general practitioner (GP) abroad or qualified in the United Kingdom (UK). We welcome international GPs in Greater Manchester and all of the initiatives outlined below are available in across our 10 boroughs.
Return to work GPs
The Return to Practice scheme is designed for GPs who have previously been on the GMC Register and NHS England’s National Performers List (Medical) and who would like to return to general practice after a career break, raising a family or time spent working abroad. The scheme also supports the safe introduction of overseas GPs who have qualified outside the UK and have no previous NHS experience. Find out more »
Locums
Doctors in primary care who locum or work within health organisations for short-term placements often face some specific challenges. They often do not have easy access to systems or structures in place to support their continuing professional development, appraisal, revalidation, and governance.