Locum Medics

Find here some of the healthcare locum medic agencies which recruit for NHS and private work

Locum, short for the Latin phrase locum tenens (place-holder) to hold the place of. It simply means someone, usually in health care, who substitutes for someone else temporarily. The term "locum tenens" is mostly used in the United States while in the UK just the word locum is mostly used.

In other words, locum is a person who temporarily perform the duties of another. For example, a locum GP doctor or nurse is a medical professional who works in the place of the permanent GP or nurse when that gp/nurse is not available due to any reason like annual leaves, sick leaves.
 
 
In the UK, the NHS on average has 3,500 locum doctors working in hospitals on any given day, with another 15,500 locum general practitioners. These locum doctors or nurses are supplied by private agencies. NHS figures show that approximately 80% of hospital locum positions are filled by agencies on this framework. The remaining 20% are filled by agencies working outside of this agreement. Locum agencies are common reference points for doctors wishing to work in this market. According to a report published by Royal College of Surgeons NHS spent approximately £467 million on locum doctors through agencies in the year 2009-2010.