r/GPUK

Whats your thoughts on this?

My partner and I are both at medical school and working towards working as GPs in the UK and seriously weighing a move to Canada, specifically Alberta, once we’re both qualified. Before we commit to anything I want to get past the surface-level “Canadian doctors earn more” narrative and actually understand what this looks like in practice.

A bit about our priorities, since I think they’ll shape what’s actually relevant:

•	Housing in the UK feels increasingly out of reach for what we’d want: a proper family home with space, a garden, room for the kids to actually play in. We keep seeing that this is far more attainable in Alberta on GP-equivalent income.

•	We want a good standard of education for our (future) kids without needing to sacrifice everything for private school fees.

•	We’re tired of the UK’s unpredictable weather and the total absence of air conditioning in most housing stock though I’m aware Alberta swaps that for brutal extremes, so I’m not expecting a “better” climate, but how manageable is it?

•	Family time, home gym/games space, and being able to travel comfortably matter a lot to us.    

What I’d love from people who’ve actually made this move (either direction, or who are living it now):

1.	Real post-tax, post-overhead numbers. What actually lands in your account each month as a family physician in Alberta after overhead, tax, and any incorporation structure, versus what a UK GP nets after tax, NI, and pension contributions.

2.	What the move itself was actually like. Licensing/registration process, how long it took, how disruptive it was for family life, whether it was worth the hassle.

3.	Real cost of living comparison for housing, childcare, groceries, vehicles, heating bills through an Alberta winter, insurance, etc.

4.	Honest quality-of-life assessment. How work culture, patient list sizes, admin burden, and day-to-day GP life actually compares. Also curious how people who moved with young kids found schooling and settling in.

5.	Was it worth it, ultimately? Especially interested in hearing from anyone who moved and would (or wouldn’t) do it again.

Any first-hand accounts, warnings, or “wish I’d known this beforehand” points are hugely appreciated.

Hi GP colleagues. I am due to CCT in august. I have applied for CCT and just waiting for the whole process to get sorted. In the meantime, I had been looking for jobs and researching local practices to see what suits me.

I found one that is a bit far from where I live but overall everything seems okay.

I met the practice partner and we had an informal discussion. But by the end of it, he offered me the job and I accepted.

Now the thing is that this whole discussion has been verbal or just on whatsapp. We haven't communicated in writing and he hasn't said anything further.

I did message him on whatsapp to ask him about the next steps but he simply said "I'll let you know".

I am feeling a bit apprehensive and worried that what if he goes back on his word and I am left with no job. It doesn't feel right to keep nagging him about it...but I don't know if it is okay to look for more jobs either.

What do you all think?

What is something you wish you had known about or done more of as a GPST3, especially on preparing for life post CCT and opportunities (i.e. partnership, locum, salary, OOH, corporate etc, literally anything)? Also would appreciate advise on SCA exam prep.

Unfortunately am the only trainee in my practice and thus don't get much guidance on this (including from my supervisors who are quite old school and very senior)

The more detail the merrier; I would appreciate it greatly 🙏🏽

Thank you

What kind of questions do they ask at salary GP interviews please?

Sitting the AKT in a few days and I am absolutely shitting bricks.

I've been doing questions pretty much non-stop but still feel like I know nothing. 😅

Any last-minute tips from people who've already sat it? Anything you wish you'd focused on in the final few days or things that came up more than expected?

Cheers and good luck to everyone else sitting it this month!

Appreciate this may be an asinine question to some, but I had a debate with my colleague on AI scribes and I find they slow me down massively, but my colleague swears by them and wants me to see the light.

I'm worried about the scribe not reading in my voice and inaccuracies also, given we are the ultimate risk sink for this.

What are others' experiences?

Am I a luddite over this?

GPwEr pathways

Is there an overview of all available GPwER pathways in the UK? Can't find any useful overview of all possible diplomas, courses, pathways etc to pursue a gpwER career. Only single specialties such as diabetes, dermatology etc. but no overview.

Hi, I'm currently an ST3. Limited experience/exposure to GP partnership/business management/finances at this stage.

Family friend is a non-medic who has been working with one GP practice in a business management role helping them bid for APMS contracts and winning the bids. Lots of £ involved. Now offered partnership with track record, looking at very handsome numbers £400K PA.

I've just been googling and saw info on Kings Fund where less than 4% GMS holding practices hold an APMS contract. Why is this the case? How have these corporates managed to achieve such a chokehold on these contracts?

Case study - AT Medics sold their company to US based, Operose Health - from what I can see purely all the APMS contracts they've acquired.

Do they actually make money? (obvs silly question, maybe)

Why aren't more GP practices doing this? Structuring? Manpower? Financial penalty?

Is there a catch I am missing?

Anyone able to shed light on this?

This for the year starting August 2026 vs 62% last year.

:Breathes a sigh of relief:

Not knocking the IMGs. We've had some truly excellent IMGs that we'd have back as salaried and a couple potentially even as partners in the future. Having said that we've also had some truly difficult IMGs (a couple had multiple extensions and one even had 4 shots at the RCA before passing and even after that she would still do some truly strange things in her consults). Generally the UK grads whether local/foreign have been less of a crap shoot though the laziest ST3 was a UK grad.

Hi
For those who sat SCA in june, i noted a change in status on rcgp exam portal today. Now it says ineligible to book exam as awaiting result for sca. Has someone else
noted a different status? I remember before AKT exam results, it said ineligible as already passed for some people.

Does anyone else think these situations are broadly a disaster? Every practice I know of that’s run by a “medical group”, with partners who never step foot in the building, provides a terrible level of care compared to practices with a traditional model. I’m in Scotland so appreciate the situation isn’t as bad here as it is in England, but how can anyone legitimately argue that a partner can run three practices simultaneously. I’m surprised there hasn’t been any appetite for banning this model yet. Obviously financially it’s the best way of squeezing money out of the system but clinically it’s a shitshow.

What do you guys actually use to revise for the AKT, and what’s missing from it?

Asking because I’m trying to figure out the best revision approach myself and the options feel a bit scattered. Do most people just use Passmed? Is the official material enough? And is there anything you wish existed that doesn’t? I’ve heard Passmed isn’t extremely true to the exam so wondering if there was something more similar. Thanks a lot!

I'm a GPST, and at my current practice I keep being told in my debriefs to "add it to your list". I wasn't sure what my supervisor meant by this at first, but I think they mean I should be keeping a list of things to chase up with certain patient. An example is recently we got a letter from secondary care advising they had booked an upcoming scan a patient was due from our end, and for us to chase the results, and I've been told I need to keep a note of this and look out for it.

Question is... How are people keeping a robust list to refer to for things like this without things getting lost or missed? And where do you draw the line of what is something we chase Vs placing the responsibility with the patient? Any tips? I don't want to end up with hundreds of tasks...

Hi all,

Recently CCT’d in GP (June 2026) and trying to sort Enhanced DBS for Performers List application via PCSE.

My situation:

• No current job lined up
• Need new Enhanced DBS with adult and child barred lists
• Not employed, so unsure what to put for “organisation/employer” on DBS forms, and when I choose the self-employed option, many providers ask for a biometric passport which I don’t have. I’m on ILR. I do have a UK photo drivers licence, though not sure if this alone would be acceptable by any umbrella body? I have viewed several umbrella body websites and most of them say I can’t proceed with the application without a biometric passport.

Just wondering which umbrella body might be able to help in this scenario, any recent experiences appreciated.

Thanks!

I’m moving from FY2 Cardiology to GPST1 O&G. I’m working long days on 3–4 August, then have mandatory induction on 5–7 August with the 7th August after induction long day, followed by long days on 8–9 August and another shift on 10 August.

What do I do in this situation? It appears I’m doing 8 days non-stop.

Hi,

If we’ve done adult and child safeguarding courses in the last 12 months (st1 - did one in dec and one literally 3 weeks ago)
I don’t need to upload a yearly update right? It makes no sense as I just did an actual course

My ES didn’t mention anything and aaid my portfolio is complete. However, a friend’s ES told her just before her portfolio locked that she will get an outcome 5 because she didn’t do a yearly update - even tho she JUST did her safeguarding courses level 3. My understanding was you only do them once its been more than 12 months after your safeguarding course.

Would appreciate some guidance on this!
Thanks

This has already been posted in the doctors subreddit but I felt it would be useful to specifically hear from GPs on this new tragic case:

https://www.judiciary.uk/prevention-of-future-death-reports/ethan-hanson-prevention-of-future-deaths-report/

The learning point I can identify from this is that you should just print a brief consultation summary to go with the patient. I always do this when sending acute presentations to AE with the belief, and I'm not even sure the belief is justified, that AE will take the patient more seriously if they read my consultation notes re query acute presentation.

However, as far as I'm aware this is standard practice, most of my colleagues print a consultation summary that patients take to AE.

The idea that GPs need to be calling secondary care for all cases of ?acute issue is just ridiculous though and totally unrealistic.

Sometimes it takes 30+ minutes to get through to some surgical specialties. If a patient is unwell, it is neither a good use of GPs' time nor the patients to make them wait in a waiting room without any medical monitoring so that the relevant specialty can know ahead of time that a ?query acute issue is coming through to them. Often surgeons will literally redirect these referrals to AE anyway because AE is a better environment for monitoring and IV fluids/abx compared to an understaffed surgical ward.

So I am personally of the opinion that the GP did nothing wrong here. A printed consultation letter may have improved outcomes but if the parent presented to AE without going through the GP, who would be liable then?

Frankly, if an 'AE clinician' needs to be spoon fed a diagnosis by a GP after a 10 minute consultation without the resources of AE, perhaps they shouldn't be managing undifferentiated presentations in AE?

As above, interested to hear what people think.