As I write this, a bitter winter ends: '12 days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death' (Cressida Cowell), is how things have felt. However, as green shoots appear and winter pressures subside. We need to take stock and have a frank, open discussion about what is important to us in the coming months and years. I am a salaried GP in an urban Oxford practice (Fig. 1). Now 6 years post CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training), the sheer immensity of change has left me somewhat winded. I decided to consult a variety of early career GPs to explore their aspirations and disquietude about the future; their visions for a 'brave new world'. These GPs are working in a variety of ways: locums, salaried GPs, CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) clinical leads, partners, entrepreneurs and portfolio GPs. What follows is a collection of their insights and reflections about our future as GPs. Understanding the nature of growing pressures is crucial to the development of services, not only for the benefit of patients, but also to sustain and motivate the workforce. Our workload is heavier, growing in complexity and intensity, carrying a greater risk of litigation. Clinical workload in England has risen by 16 over 7 years (Hobbs et al., 2016). Time spent by GPs with patients has increased by 18, equivalent to almost an extra working day per week.
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