Working as a locum has many advantages as it allows the individual to choose what hours they work as well as what type of work they want to undertake. Medical practices will have taken out Locum Insurance like that from MPRS Locum Insurance to help cover the staffing costs associated with bringing a locum into the practice. There are many different types of work for locums and here are some of them.
Out of hours – if you want to add some extra hours to your working schedule then you could also work out of hours as a locum or you might prefer to work these unsociable hours if that is what suits your family circumstances. This type of work usually involves working in walking in the centre or in a local hospital as the first point of contact for people who are unwell after their GP surgeries have closed or over the weekends.
Short term – this means helping a GP practice when a member of their regular staff is off ill. This may mean working for a day or two to help ensure that their patients can still be seen and to prevent a backlog of patients from occurring.
Long term – this is more common when you have a GP that has taken maternity or paternity leave or has taken a sabbatical or secondment for a short period of time. This can occur when a doctor wants to shadow a specialist or if they are undertaking further qualifications and they want to understand more about a particular area of medicine.