A salaried GP interview is a high-stakes conversation on both sides of the table. The practice is assessing whether you are the right clinical fit, whether your values align with their culture, and whether you will thrive — and stay — in their specific working environment. You, in turn, are assessing whether this is a practice worth your time and commitment. Preparation is the single most effective tool you have. Knowing the likely questions, having thought through your answers, and arriving with intelligent questions of your own will set you meaningfully apart from candidates who walk in cold.
1. Tell us about your clinical background and what brings you to this role.
Almost always the opening question — and one where unprepared candidates immediately reveal themselves by reciting their CV. The panel has already read your CV. What they want is a coherent professional narrative: where you trained, what clinical interests you have developed, what you are looking for in your next role, and — specifically — why this practice appeals to you. Practise a two-minute version out loud before the interview. Mention one or two things you know about the practice that genuinely interest you. Generic answers will not stand out.
2. How do you approach managing a complex, multi-morbid patient?
This tests your clinical reasoning and your ability to work within a multidisciplinary team. Strong answers are structured and patient-centred — not formulaic. Cover: systematic review of medication, monitoring, and social circumstances; use of care coordinators and clinical pharmacists to share the management burden; and emphasis on shared decision-making with the patient and carers. Avoid implying you manage everything yourself — modern GP practice is inherently team-based.
3. How do you approach QOF and enhanced services?
Practices want GPs who understand QOF and take it seriously — it directly affects practice income. Frame it as a framework for structured chronic disease management, not box-ticking. Give a concrete example of how you have contributed to QOF performance: a recall audit you improved, a medication review programme you contributed to, or a coding practice change you implemented. Specific examples always outperform general statements.
4. Tell us about a significant clinical event and what you learned from it.
This is a reflective practice question. The panel is not looking for a story where nothing went wrong — they want evidence that you can recognise errors, reflect honestly, and change your practice as a result. Use the SEA framework: describe the event factually, explain what happened and why, describe what you did in response, reflect on what you would do differently, and summarise the learning and any systems changes that followed. Keep the focus on your reflection and learning.
5. How do you manage a high-pressure workload?
GP workload is intense and this question tests your resilience and self-awareness. Answer with specific strategies: how you structure your consultation time (e.g. 15-minute slots, using task lists efficiently), how you use the multidisciplinary team rather than taking everything yourself, how you escalate workload concerns to practice leadership rather than absorbing them silently, and how you protect your own wellbeing. Saying "I just get on with it" is not an answer — it suggests limited self-awareness and a short runway to burnout.
6. How do you handle a patient complaint?
Acknowledge the patient's concerns, investigate thoroughly, respond empathetically and factually, and identify any learning. Reference your awareness of the PCSE complaints process. Frame complaints as valuable feedback for improving care — not as attacks on your competence. Panels will be impressed by a candidate who can describe a specific complaint they handled well, including what they learned from it.
7. What is your experience with safeguarding?
Safeguarding is non-negotiable. Cover: your current training level (Level 3 is required for GPs), how you identify and escalate concerns for both children and vulnerable adults, your familiarity with local referral pathways, and your relationship with the named safeguarding lead. If you have experience with a complex safeguarding case, describe it briefly and with appropriate confidentiality. Practices want GPs who take safeguarding seriously, not those who treat it as a compliance box to tick.
8. Are you interested in partnership in the future?
Be honest — this matters more than giving the answer you think they want to hear. If you are genuinely interested in partnership eventually, say so and be clear about your timeline. If you are not — perhaps you prefer salaried practice long-term, or you have personal circumstances that make partnership commitment unsuitable right now — say so honestly and explain why a salaried career suits you. A GP who accepts a salaried role implying partnership interest, then declines when offered, causes real harm to a small practice. Honesty now saves a very difficult conversation later.
9. What do you know about this practice and why do you want to work here?
This is where preparation delivers the most visible return on investment. Before the interview: read their website thoroughly, check their CQC rating and report, review their publicly available QOF performance, look at their Friends & Family Test results, and note anything distinctive about their patient population, service model, or training status. Reference specific things — their care home service, their dispensing function, their training practice status, the particular patient population. Generic answers ("I want to work somewhere with a good team") will not stand out from any other candidate.
10. What questions do you have for us?
This is not a polite formality — it is a genuine opportunity to gather information and demonstrate seriousness. Strong questions include: What is the expected consultation rate and session structure? What does the supervision and induction arrangement look like for new GPs? How are ARRS staff integrated into day-to-day clinical work? What are the practice's priorities for the next two years? How is clinical leadership distributed across the partnership? Never make pay the first or only question — it signals that the role itself is an afterthought.
