Late Career GPs

Wise 5 is about reversing that trend by sharing information, making senior GPs realise how valued they are and communicating clearly what opportunities are out there to make positive changes to recharge their enjoyment of their working lives and feeling professionally valued and fulfilled.

Dr Mark Sandler has been appointed as the Wise 5 Clinical lead GP across the ICS. He himself left partnership after 27 years in 2017 to pursue his interests in Aviation Medicine (examining pilots for the Civil Aviation Authority), GP research and now this lead role in retaining those very knowledgeable and experienced GPs in the ICS area.

He has created a network of senior GPs to share information, support each other and highlight a variety of opportunities and exciting roles for ongoing professional development. Dr Sandler believes GPs can continue to professionally develop themselves throughout their career to remain enthusiastic in their work lives and contribute very positively to the healthcare community.

At a recent Wise 5 webinar we heard about a wide variety of roles pursued by senior GPs in the later stages of their careers ranging from working in the Covid Clinical Assessment Service (CCAS), the Prevention of Admission team at Hertfordshire Community Trust, lead roles with the CCG through to a GP who followed a dream to do sabbaticals in New Zealand and the Falkland Islands before getting involved in expeditionary medicine around the world .

There is a world of opportunity out there for senior GPs who have invaluable experience that can be used in many varied roles in the ICS and further afield.

Wise 5 Networking Meeting - Tuesday 2nd July 2025

15 senior GPs from Herts and West Essex ICB met at Spire Harpenden for the latest in a series of speaker / networking meetings for Wise 5 GPs to meet and share experiences of changing work plans and roles.

Judging by the volume of discussion and energy in the room it was apparent that some excellent networking was underway.

Dr Mark Sandler, Wise 5 Clinical Lead for Herts and West Essex ICB welcomed everyone with an introduction, following with a reminder of the purpose of the Wise 5 project and how his target population of GPs has evolved to include a much younger demographic of GPs who are considering a change to their working lives.

Dr Alice Baldock, who has only just stepped away from her role as Medical Director at the Herts and Beds LMC then gave a fascinating presentation with her assessment of how Primary Care has changed over her 25 year career and looking ahead how we can hope and aim to regain professional control and satisfaction from our careers in the NHS. This stimulated a very interesting discussion from all the GPs with a number of observations and perspectives of how we navigate through the significant change ahead as we evolve into neighbourhood-based care groups. For many it was a chance to connect or reconnect with colleagues from across the ICB and share how they had individually tackled the challenges of making transitions in their professional lives and deal with the day-to-day rigours of work as partners or locums and in roles such as educators and ICB roles.

Wise 5 Networking Meeting - Tuesday 12 March 2024

30 senior GPs from our ICB met at Spire Harpenden for the first in a series of networking meetings for Wise 5 GPs to meet and share experiences of changing work plans and roles.

A delicious supper was provided and judging by the volume of discussion and energy in the room it was apparent that networking was going on at pace from the start.

Dr Mark Sandler, Wise 5 Clinical Lead for Herts and W Essex ICB welcomed everyone with a short overview of the ambition of the Wise 5 role before introducing Dr Richard Fieldhouse, founder of the NASGP who described the history of his organisation and the LocumDeck software that is used by members for organising their locum work. This is currently fully funded for all GPs working in HWE until at least October 2024.

Dr Trevor Fernandes was next explaining his transition from full time GP partner to a portfolio career involving work as a medical examiner and also handling assessment of NHS Complaints. A fascinating Q&A followed Trevor’s presentation.

Finally, Dr Ian Hamilton from St Albans described the ups and downs of working as sports physician with Watford FC.

Following on, each of 6 round table discussions continued for some time with GPs sharing their experience (I calculated approximately 1000 years of General Practice experience in the room!) and their aspirations. For me it was an uplifting evening as it was a chance to meet, in real life, a number of GPs I had met on Zoom throughout Covid in 2020/2021 and to hear about how they had transitioned into roles as coaches, appraisers, educators and salaried and locum roles following on from discussions we had undertook.

For many others it was a chance to connect or reconnect with colleagues from across the ICB and share how they had individually tackled the challenges of making transitions in their professional lives.

Current initiatives