Due to many policy changes in recent times, such as the Visas for GPs initiative or the introduction of Health Workforce Certificates, it has become increasingly difficult for many practices to find good GPs. This means GPs are in high demand at the moment and practices are willing to offer benefits which they normally wouldn’t.
Despite of the added benefits, it’s vital to negotiate the best possible deal for yourself. More often than not, it’s better to let experts do the negotiation on your behalf. Our recruitment agents and workforce advisors are there to help you with exactly that. Alecto’s core value is to connect the best GPs with the best practices and as such we also want to make sure that each party is satisfied with the terms of employment.
According to our yearly GP salary survey, earnings is certainly one of the most important criteria when looking for a GP job, however there are many other factors you may want to consider.
We have compiled a list of the 8 most important factors to consider for your next GP position
- Salary & % of billings – GP salaries vary greatly and can range from less than 250k/year to over 500k/year. Basically, it comes down to your % of billings, how busy the practice is and how many hours you work. Most practices pay 65% of billings. Practices offering 70% used to be very rare but many bulk billing practices have adopted this rate to attract good GPs.
- Mixed billing vs Bulk billing – Bulk-billing practices average 5-6 consultations per hour, mixed billing is a little less, perhaps 4-5 per hour. This also has an effect on your earnings, as you may get more chronic disease in Bulk Billing locations meaning you would be able to bill more items.
- Developing a special interest – If you have a special interest that you provide to patients or are looking to develop a speciality, it is important to speak to clinics about how they can support you
- How busy the practice is – Patient numbers are important in every practice, however when you are looking for a position it is vital to discuss why they need a new GP, whether they are turning patients away or have a patient base ready to be taken over
- Clinic Management & Support – A good practice manager and support in the practice can make the difference between an ok and great practice.
- Location – there are particular locations which are over-doctored, and other locations where we know patients are just looking for a quick in and out appointment, even though you may be looking at a particular location it is important to consider whether this is a location where GPs are in demand.
- Working hours Most practices are flexible with working hours however most of them require some type of commitment to After Hours, whether this is 1 night a week or 1 weekend day a fortnight
- Type of clinic (Community Health, Small Corporate, Large Corporate, etc..) – Depending on what you are looking for the ownership or type of clinic will vary.
At Alecto we are very selective with regards to what practices we choose to recruit for. We intend to always connect the best GPs with the best practices. To ascertain our position as leading workforce consultants in the GP landscape, we uphold a strict quality standard.
Over the years we have built relationships with all Australian practices that exhibit excellence with regards to the eight factors listed above.
If you want to find the perfect GP job, get in touch with us today or browse our current GP vacancies to get an idea of what opportunities are available right now.