If you are in the medical industry and are working as a staff grade level physician, a consultant or a Senior House Officer (SHO), you might want to consider working as General Practitioner locums, also known as GP locums. But before you decide to pursue with this career, there are certain things that you need to ask yourself. Although there are lots of GP locum agencies these days that can assist you to become one, it is important that you know what you are getting yourself into.

Things to Ask Yourself

First of all, ask yourself how much you will be earning if you decide to work as GP locums. Will you get paid weekly or monthly, etc? What about your expenses? Will they cover your expenses on travel and accommodation, especially if you will be assigned to some faraway place? Another thing to ask is whether you will get regular working hours working or is it on-going hours. Are you going to receive holiday pay if you decide to work during the holidays? And what about the benefits that you get to receive working as a locum? Is it worth it?

Read the following to address all the questions above.

• How much will you get paid? – As a general rule, the pay rates for GP locums will be based on your experiences and skills. Those who are in the staff grade levels are expected to receive more pay than those who are in the SHO, or Senior House Officer Level. The pay will also be based on whether you work for the NHS or for the private sectors. They will also ask you whether you would prefer to work in your particular field of discipline since this will also play a big factor in determining your wages. The GP locum agencies will offer varying rates of pay, so it is worth it to scout around before applying.

• Will your expenses be covered? – Yes, your transportation as well as accommodation expenses will travel, no matter where you are to be assigned.

• How often will you receive your pay? – As for your question on whether you will receive your pay weekly or monthly, the answer will actually depend on the GP locum agencies that you have worked for, so you should ask the agency about this before you decide to send in your application.

• Will you be working regular or ongoing hours? – The question on whether you will be working for regular or ongoing working hours as GP Locums will depend on several factors. This includes the contract that you have signed for between the agencies, although some agencies will leave it up for the applicants to decide which working hours is more preferable for them.

• Will you get holiday pay? – As a general rule, everyone is entitled to receive their holiday pay if ever they decide to work during the holidays.

Hopefully, this article about GP locums has addressed all the things that you might be asking about working for this kind of profession.

To add a comment please login by clicking here