How often have you visited your doctor for a routine visit or tried to book an appointment with your regular doctor only to be told that it is the locum doctor that is working on that particular day? It is a regular occurrence as doctors themselves get sick or may take time of work to have children or for holidays. This can be incredibly expensive for GP practices which is why they often have Locum Insurance. MPRS Locum Insurance for example allows the business managers in doctors surgeries to operate a full complement of doctors, even when one of them is away and it doesn’t have a significant impact on their finances.
But, what is a locum?
Locum is a Latin phrase (Latin is used a lot in both the medical and legal fields), that means “place holder” and in essence this is exactly what this sort of doctor does. It is a doctor that works in place of a regular physician whilst they are away. Doctors may be affiliated or partners of a particular practice and this is where they will work as a family doctor. However, some doctors prefer to have no fixed pace of work, or there may not be any permanent roles in their local area. This is where working as Locum comes in. They can work the hours that fit their other circumstances and can work for an entire health body or perhaps just work for a couple of surgeries close to them.
