Pros
Out of hours shifts generally available
Cons
Pay for sessional GPs has been static for a decade and is very poor, with no pension contribution. Working conditions are very pressured with no control over cases when triaging (you just click a button and are presented with what the 111 algorithm considers the most urgent case). You are constantly told by management that you are expected to achieve a certain workload of cases (which most experienced clinicians do not feel is realistic) or you will not be allocated shifts. The senior clinicians are largely ACPs from paramedic backgrounds rather than GPs and whilst fine in acute care they do not have the scope of experience in primary care that is really necessary to deal with entirely undifferentiated and medically complex cases or challenge decisions made by experienced GPs. Management treat sessional GPs with little professionalism or respect - there are endless comms telling us what we should be doing differently (ie better) but very little recognition for hard work or help with filling shifts at the last minute. Most experienced, long-serving GPs have now left and freshly recruited ones tend not to stay for long once they get a job. Used to be a great service to work for before being taken over by Health Hero but the focus has shifted from excellent service provision to being finance driven.