I have found it difficult to fill vacancies recently. The quality of applicants and the number has definitely fallen.
It had been declining for a while but it dropped dramatically in the past year.
It is a sellers’ market. There have been instances where applicants have been offered another job at the same time elsewhere and it has become an arms race to get that applicant in the post by offering as attractive a proposition as possible.
There are more people taking up locum posts and working out of hours in APMS providers than previously. I don’t think people want to be tied into long-term contracts.
I think it will get worse if you want to recruit a partner when no one knows what is happening in three years’ time, let alone five.
Related stories
GP vacancy rates quadruple in two years
Investigation: Why has recruiting GPs become so hard?
