Everything you need to attract, hire and retain the next generation of GPs

A Recruitment Guide for Practices

The UK is facing a significant GP workforce shortage. Recruiting a newly qualified GP could be one of the best decisions your practice makes, but only if you are genuinely ready to support them. This guide walks you through every stage of the process, from assessing your readiness to making the role one they will want to stay in long term.

4,200+  GPs leaving the NHS each year

1 in 5  GP posts currently vacant in England

~3,500  new GPs qualifying annually in the UK

Sources: RCGP, NHS Digital, BMA workforce data

Are you actually ready to recruit?

Before you write a single job advert, take stock of what your practice genuinely offers. Newly qualified GPs are often highly discerning, they have spent years in training practices and can quickly tell the difference between a supportive environment and one where they will be set up to struggle.

Honest self-assessment at this stage saves significant time and avoids a poor hire that damages both the GP’s confidence and your practice culture. Ask yourself:

Questions to ask before you advertise: Recruit Newly Qualified GPs fast!

• Do we have protected time for supervision and debrief?
• Is our clinical workload manageable for someone new to independent practice?
• Can we offer mentorship, not just management?
• Do our current GPs have the capacity and willingness to support a new colleague?
• Have we thought about what career development looks like here in two, three, five years?

Understanding what newly qualified GPs are looking for

The GP workforce has shifted. Many newly qualified GPs prioritise workplace culture, protected learning time and a sustainable workload over salary and partnership prospects. Understanding what motivates this generation of doctors is key to both attracting and retaining them.

• Workload manageability – consistently cited as the top concern. New GPs want to know appointment numbers are realistic and that they will not be left drowning from day one.
• Mentorship and clinical support – not a named supervisor for CQC purposes, but genuine, accessible clinical mentorship from a senior colleague who has time for them.
• Flexible working options: portfolio careers, part-time working and session-based contracts are increasingly the norm. Rigidity is a deterrent.
• Clear career progression: whether that is partnership, enhanced services, medical education or special interests, newly qualified GPs want to see a future, not just a job.
• A positive team culture: they will ask your admin staff and nurses what it is like to work there. Culture shows before the interview even starts.
• Manageable admin burden: inbox management, document flow and the degree of non-clinical work are increasingly scrutinised. Modern, efficient systems matter.

Writing a job advert that actually attracts applications

Most GP job adverts are identical. They list sessions, salary and a brief description of the practice. The best ones tell a story about why this practice is different and what it looks and feels like to work there day to day.

Be specific and honest. A newly qualified GP reading fifty identical adverts will stop at the one that tells them something real. Mention your appointment model, your average list size per session, the level of clinical support available and what your partnership culture is genuinely like. If there are challenges, name them, trust is built early.

Your job advert should include:

• Number of clinical sessions and appointment model e.g. 15-minute slots, total contacts per session
• List size and patient demographics
• Named supervision arrangements in the first six months
• Salary range and any performance-related elements
• Partnership timeline, if relevant
• What continued professional development (CPD) time looks like in practice
• A brief, genuine description of your team culture, written by someone who actually works there

Post the role on NHS Jobs as a minimum. Also consider the RCGP job board, local training programme communications and LinkedIn, many newly qualified GPs use all three. Word of mouth through deanery networks is powerful; building a relationship with your local GP training programme can generate direct referrals.

The interview and selection process

Keep the process proportionate. Newly qualified GPs are often applying to multiple roles simultaneously. A three-stage process with a panel of strangers, a clinical scenario, a presentation and a separate HR interview will lose you good candidates to more straightforward competitors.

A single structured interview with a short clinical discussion is usually sufficient. What matters far more than a polished assessment framework is whether the conversation is honest, two-way and gives the candidate a genuine sense of the practice.

• Prepare thoughtful questions. Ask about the clinical scenarios they have found challenging, how they access support when uncertain, and what kind of working environment brings out their best.
• Invite their questions seriously. How a candidate interrogates your practice tells you a great deal. Welcome difficult questions about workload and culture, they are asking for good reasons.
• Show them around. A brief tour and informal conversation with a receptionist or practice nurse often tells a candidate more than a formal interview ever could.
• Involve your wider team. A short informal coffee with existing GPs gives both sides a clearer picture. Chemistry matters for small clinical teams.
• Be transparent on terms. Do not leave salary, session numbers or partnership timelines vague. Ambiguity at the offer stage is a red flag to many candidates.
• Move quickly. Good candidates in a candidate-light market will accept elsewhere. Aim to give verbal feedback within 48 hours of interview.

Onboarding: the first six months

The first six months are the most vulnerable period for a newly qualified GP, and for your practice. This is when new hires form lasting impressions about whether they want to build a career with you. Investment here is disproportionately valuable.

• Structured induction in weeks one and two. Cover clinical systems, key protocols, safeguarding leads, repeat prescribing policy, urgent care pathways and who to call for what. Do not just hand them a folder.
• Supervised sessions initially. Consider building in the ability to discuss complex cases at the end of each session for the first four to six weeks, genuine clinical dialogue, not bureaucratic oversight.
• Regular one-to-one check-ins. Monthly protected meetings with their named supervisor in the first year. Not performance management, a space to raise uncertainty, reflect and plan.
• Introduce them to your MDT. Arrange early introductions to district nurses, health visitors, social prescribers, pharmacists and mental health practitioners. Relationships make the job sustainable.
• Agree a CPD plan early. Ask in the first fortnight what clinical areas they want to develop. Map this to your practice’s enhanced service profile and available protected time.
• Address problems immediately. If workload or stress is escalating in the first months, name it early. New GPs often do not raise concerns without explicit invitation, check in, do not wait.

Retention: keeping the GPs you recruit

Recruitment is expensive and disruptive. Retention is dramatically cheaper. Practices that invest in the long-term satisfaction and development of their newly qualified GPs see measurably lower turnover, stronger clinical culture and over time, a more robust partnership pipeline.

The most common reasons newly qualified GPs leave a practice are:

• Unsustainable workload – the number one factor by a significant margin
• Feeling isolated or unsupported clinically
• Lack of career development or visible progression
• Poor communication from partners and practice management
• Feeling undervalued relative to their contribution
• Inflexibility around working patterns and session arrangements

Retention strategies do not need to be elaborate. Regular honest conversations about workload, genuine opportunities for clinical development, transparent dialogue about partnership, and a culture in which raising concerns is normal rather than exceptional — these go a long way.

Consider a formal review at six months and twelve months with an explicit question: what would make you want to build your career here long term? Then actually act on the answers.

Final thoughts

Recruiting a newly qualified GP is not simply filling a gap on the rota. Done well, it is an investment in the future clinical capacity and culture of your practice. Done poorly, it harms the new GP, unsettles your existing team and leaves you in a worse position than before.

The practices that recruit and retain newly qualified GPs most successfully have one thing in common: they are genuinely honest about what they offer and what they ask for in return.

That honesty, more than any other factor, is what builds trust… and trust is what makes people stay.

Need support with  how to Recruit Newly Qualified GPs?

Whether you are writing your first job advert, navigating contract terms or building an onboarding programme, we work with GP practices across the UK to make recruitment simpler and more effective. Get in touch to find out how we can help.

Call us on 0113 350 1308, email us at [email protected] or complete our contact form here: Contact form.