Before advertising

1. Agree what it is that you need someone to do for your Practice - and what you would like them to do. Clinical requirements come first.
2. Clarify the the time commitment you need e.g. part-time/ full-time, covering OOHs, etc. Work out the details and decide how flexible you can be.
3. List the things you think would appeal most to people - the advantages of the job. How can you promote these?
4. List the things you think would appeal least to people - the drawbacks and challenges of the job. What can you put in place to reduce or remove these challenges?
5. Identify aspects of the job that are "unusual" or different from normal. These aspects will be attractive to some candidates but don’t worry if these aspects are unattractive to others - you're not trying to recruit those people!
6. Work out details of the maximum remuneration package you can offer. Establish what enticements they are eligible for, e.g. a Golden Hello, relocation package, etc - and know the details. Find out if there a community fund that could pay for interview or other expenses.
7. Identify who you want to target – the level of experience, stage of career, specific expertise, etc. Decide how flexible you can be.
8. Work out how the appointee will be supported by partners/practice colleagues and staff. If appropriate consider using a buddying programme.
9. List the external clinical support networks of support that are available – e.g. secondary care colleagues, Clusters, NES, etc. If there are gaps how can you put them in place? These things can be aspirational – a new appointee could help develop support networks.
10. Decide who needs to be involved in the recruitment process and agree with them what their responsibilities are. This includes; who will be involved in shortlisting and who will be interviewing.
11. Agree dates working back from your hoped for start date. Dates include; when to advertise, application closing date, when to shortlist, when to interview, etc.
12. Select and book space for the assessment of applicants ensuring it has the facilities you may need such as internet connection or video conferencing. 
13. If required, work with HR to ensure they are prepared - so that responses to applicants are fast and of high quality and that contract agreement and appointment arrangements are in place and ready for when needed.  
14. Agree who will be named on advertising as the first point of contact. The first point of contact is a crucial responsibility so the person needs to be fully briefed about the role, the Practice, the area, etc. They need to know who to signpost to for further information.
15. Agree who will be the clinical first point of contact - the applicant should speak with a potential clinical colleague as soon as possible. The clinician must be well briefed and understand how important this first contact is.
16. Agree who will be the Practice or Primary Care management first point of contact - who can handle HR issues, interview arrangements, accommodation, arranging travel, etc.
17. Decide what is acceptable to do remotely and what you'll need, eg initial meeting by VC. The default for assessment/interview will be face-to-face but VC is acceptable.
18. Agree how you will assess applicants. Interview
19. Establish what funding is available in the SFE for advertising costs (for rural practices). SFE 2019/20
20. 17C and 17J Practices should check what incentives and support might be available from their Board.
21. Decide if you are prepared to consider applicants through an external provider such as a recruitment agency.
22. Engage representation from the local community to be an active participant in your recruitment. Agree how the local community will share responsibility to recruit this person who will provide medical services. Their involvement may include providing information about the area and hosting potential candidates who come to visit. Manage the community’s expectations of the post; applicants are likely to be different from the previous incumbent.
23. Ensure the application pack is prepared and available. The application pack should be comprehensive and include the job description (with details of the remuneration package), person specification (setting out essential and desirable skills and qualifications), Practice profile (list size and demographic profile, practice area, staffing levels, etc), information about the local area, etc.

Identify potential financial resources and support as soon as possible and confirm what is actually available.

Golden Hello

Chapter 11 of the GMS Statement of Financial Entitlements (SFE) 2022/23 sets out details of the Golden Hello Scheme for eligible GPs. While the SFE only applies to Practices with GMS contracts, Health Boards should make Golden Hellos available on similar terms to those Practices on the list which are on 2C contracts or have 17C agreements. Scottish Government has provided a list of these practices as well as the scale of and eligibility for Golden Hellos for Practices in areas of deprivation. Annex D refers to the list of remote and rural Practices eligible under the Golden Hello Scheme and is available here. The list of eligible deprived Practices is available here.

Relocation Costs

Chapter 11 of the SFE 2022/23 (section 11.20) details support for relocation costs for GPs - those who takes up a substantive post in a remote and rural area.

If you are a 2C Practice then verify the details of your Health Board's relocation policy.

Recruitment Costs

Chapter 11 of the SFE 2022/23 (sections 11.21-22) details support for recruitment costs for Practices in remote and rural areas.

Community Support

Consider whether there are any organisations or funds within the community that could provide financial support.

Will the Health Board or Practice support potential applicants to come up and have a look?  This might be prior to application if you feel that this would encourage them to apply and if you feel they are potentially a good applicant. Our advice would be to go by your gut instinct.  If you feel that this is a candidate that will be good, then consider pushing the boat out for them. If on the other hand you have reservations then don’t.  This stage is about the individual assuring themselves that the job and place is right for them.  The interview is about the partnership/HB deciding if the individual is right for the job. Ideally, by the time you get to interview, candidates will accept the job if offered.

The application pack needs to be prepared and available before you start to advertise. This is because when someone asks for an application pack you want to make the most of their interest by getting it to them without delay. The application pack should be comprehensive but needs to tell "your story" so it's important that the content and style should clearly reflect your Practice. The basic core parts are the Job Description and Person Specification but experience says it is a wise investment to provide comprehensive supporting information. This is because you want to give a potential applicant enough, good quality information to help them decide whether to apply or not - particularly when they may be considering applying to other Practices.

By default, the application pack should be in electronic format but you should also be able to offer a paper-based version.

We suggest that your application pack contains the following information:

• Job Description (including details of the remuneration package)
• Person Specification (setting out essential and desirable skills and qualifications)
• Practice Profile (list size and demographic profile, practice area, staffing levels, etc)
• Information about the Health Board in which the Practice is situated with a link to their website
• Links to other surrounding Practices
• General information about the area
• Information provided by the community

Job Description, Person Specification and Remuneration

The Job Description should tell the potential applicant about the main duties and responsibilities of the vacancy/role. You are trying to convey to the applicant what is expected of them so that they can decide if they have what you're looking for.

For a Health Board Practice (2C) this will probably include the following areas:

• Job title
• Job purpose
• Role of department
• Organisational position
• Scope and range
• Main duties/responsibilities
• Equipment and machinery (inc systems)
• Decision and judgements
• Communications and relationships
• Physical, mental, emotional and environmental demands of the job
• Most challenging/difficult parts of the job
• Knowledge, training and experience required to do the job

For independent Practices (17J/17C) the headings might be different but the content is likely to be similar. It needs to be accurate because the Job Description might become a reference document should there be disputes around responsibilities at some point in the future.

The Person Specification should be structured into Essential and Desirable criteria.  It can be helpful for candidates if you tell them how these criteria will be assessed (application, interview, scenario, documentation).

It is important to clearly describe what is the maximum remuneration package. It is helpful for potential applicants to see this as a full time salary and, if applicable, what the actual salary will be, if it is a part-time post.

Contact Information

Always ensure there are named individuals who will take ownership for supporting interested applicants. 

Decide what level of contact you want to offer at this stage. For example an informal chat with a Partner or the Practice Manager.

Decide what methods of contact you want to offer. Consider offering video contact using one of the readily available means such as via such as Teams, Zoom, WhatsApp, etc.

This role is key to successful recruitment – see Looking after applicants section. This might be anyone, but they need to be fully informed, have a level of authority and have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. 

Information about the job and place

This section is about giving potential applicants additional information about the job and the place.

The section on the job might include information about:

• The practice and how it works – it may be a link to your Practice website.
• Education and training opportunities in the Health Board.
• Links to relevant aspects of the Health Board website.
• It could include information about the local Cluster.

Engaging the community in developing material regarding the place has been very successful in some areas. You can find information about how to include your community here.