Dr Jon Craig, Deputy Medical Director
“Why I work for Greenbrook’s Urgent Care Centres”
Tell us more about Greenbrook and your urgent care centres
We run seven urgent care centres across London - four in North West London and three in South East London - all of which are primary care led. These are designed to see, treat and discharge or refer ambulatory patients whose injuries or illnesses are not so serious as to need full Emergency Department care.
Most of our centres are co-located with large acute trusts, acting as a front door for those hospitals’ emergency departments.
What kind of people work for your urgent care centres?
The clinicians who work with us are predominantly GPs and emergency nurse practitioners (ENPs). Our GPs typically deal with patients presenting with acute illnesses while the ENPs deal with injuries. No special qualifications or experience are needed - illness cases are those that any GP would be comfortable seeing from their experience in general practice work.
Why did you decide to join?
My background is in general practice and more recently in out-of-hours, so I jumped at the chance to come and help shape the future of urgent care in an organisation that truly cares about what it does.
I particularly like the small organisational feel, the teamwork and the clinically-led management model.
What roles are you recruiting for?
We‘re always on the lookout for caring GPs who are interested in urgent care work. We have a number of opportunities including self-employed GP roles where you can choose ad hoc shift work, self-employed work with regularly scheduled shifts on a service level agreement and salaried roles with full or part time options.
Why is urgent care a great career choice for GPs today?
It’s enjoyable and offers a change from routine general practice work. It is an ever changing environment, working as part of a committed team of clinicians who like to help each other out.
Part of the excitement is being at the ‘front door’ as patients arrive, working with hospital colleagues whilst dealing with cases that are still within a GP’s remit. You can opt for flexible shift work and there’s very little paperwork to do so you’re free to go home once your clinical work is done.
It’s different to normal daytime GP practice, and very team-oriented. It can give you the opportunity to work in a portfolio manner whilst keeping your career and skills fresh.
What benefits do you offer GPs?
We offer highly competitive rates of pay for all our roles. In addition, as a salaried GP you can benefit from our generous study leave and annual leave, access to the NHS pension, as well as indemnity cover and a range of career progression options.
What career opportunities do you offer?
We offer all staff basic training such as life support and safeguarding sessions. We also invest in staff who want to take on management roles as we recognise that in order to provide good quality medical services we need good leadership.
“It can give you the opportunity to work in a portfolio manner whilst keeping your career and skills fresh.”
All of our senior medical team have grown into leadership roles having started out as a GP. We also have plenty of staff who started with us on an ad hoc shift basis and enjoyed it so much that they’ve gone on to permanent roles with us.
What exciting projects will the new recruits be involved in?
A lot of innovation is happening in our urgent care centres as we increasingly aim to develop services according to patient needs. We are taking a central role in the development of integrated urgent care in London and look forward to novel clinical pathways and increased co-operation with primary care, social care, mental health and acute providers.
Sum up what it’s like to work at Greenbrook Healthcare
I love it. It’s a great team - everyone cares very much about our patients and their experience. We trust and rely on our colleagues to work together for the best clinical quality.
From flexible shift work and minimal paper work to competitive rates of pay,
find out more about working for Greenbrook at www.greenbrook.nhs.uk