When considering which path is right for you as a healthcare professional, it’s important you consider all different routes. From contract, permanent, line of work to locum shifts, each have their own benefits and reasons which could benefit you and your career pathway.
When considering working as a locum healthcare professional, you may have heard some misconceptions and due to this, feel sceptical about embarking upon a new locum opportunity. Below, we’re debunking just a few of these myths to highlight some of the fantastic reasons that locum work can provide.
‘You don’t have access to training and development’
At Athona, we have plenty of resources on offer to all locums registered with us. From running CPD accredited webinars to ensuring your compliance, revalidation and appraisal are all up to date, we give all locums the best opportunity for them to develop within their career. As well as this, we also offer external training such as basic life support training, manual handling training, online mandatory training and occupational health appointments. Did you know we also offer a £100 CPD allowance when you work through us? Read more here.
‘You aren’t paid as well as your permanent counterparts’
It’s been known for locums to think they’re not paid as well as their permanent counterparts within the NHS due to the temporary nature of the role. This couldn’t be further from the truth. More commonly than not, locum roles available are often critical to fill due to staff shortages or emergency needs, therefore because of the high demand of these roles, locums are usually compensated to fill these temporary vacancies.
‘You can’t build a good rapport with patients’
Now you may think that due to the short-term nature of a locum position, you’re not able to build a good rapport with your patients. However, this is certainly not the case. As a locum, you are able to start afresh with patients and spend in-depth and quality time with them, being thorough in any questions and examinations you are conducting. Locuming can also provide a unique perspective and perhaps a different approach to each patient as opposed to other permanent staff who have seen the same patients and their conditions for a consistent amount of time.
‘You can’t grow or progress in a locum role’
One of the many benefits of working as a locum is you are able to try many different specialties if you choose to, which will allow you to eventually find your niche sector. Junior doctors in particular sometimes take a year out of their training to work in some locum positions to gain specialist knowledge in different fields (know as your FY3 year). As locum roles are very flexible with their working days and hours, you will have the opportunity to spend time training, learning and on other development resources.
‘You don’t have any job security’
Some believe locums can never have job security, however this couldn’t be further from the truth, as although locum work is temporary, the demand for locum work is consistently of high demand. Hospitals tend to rely heavily on locums due to unforeseen holidays, sickness or other short-term absences among their permanent staff. Between this and the expected high demand for locums over the upcoming years, you will always have a new opportunity to embark upon.
Does locum work sound like the right pathway for you? Get in touch with our team or register your CV with Athona today so we can get to work finding you the most suitable locum placements.
E: info@athona.com
T: 01277 217 777
