Locum veterinary nursing

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Sal the 1st — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 11:15:48 GMT

[quote user="SLofty"]

Ok, the only issue im worried about is being Limited and sorting my own books? Im not really familiar with the tax system and it concerns me- don't want to get it wrong!

[/quote]

Don't know if they still run them but I did a couple of days on a free HMRC course and this showed me what I needed to know. I used to put aside about 1/3 of what I earned from each job and that more than covered it

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Sophie Millar — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:47:39 GMT

I work with a company who are great. they're an accountancy company they do all the leg work for you and you would still take home more than if you used an umbrella :) I've set 2 other nurses up with them this month. Really easy and laid back people there - let me know if you want me to forward you their info

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:46:27 GMT

You could hire an accountant to help you; you don't need a specialist veterinary accountant to run through your books with you once a month - it costs money but it's cheaper than HMRC fines! :)

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

SLofty — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:43:57 GMT

Ok, the only issue im worried about is being Limited and sorting my own books? Im not really familiar with the tax system and it concerns me- don't want to get it wrong!

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Mark Hedberg — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:32:20 GMT

No two practices are the same; so you will have great days and horrible days. It's very interesting seeing how different teams do different things. You'll have no shortage of work; the profession needs about 20,000 vet nurses and there are only around 11k vet nurses.

Check out the job ads for vet nurses in vet times and vet nurse times - there are easily 3-4 pages of them. Ring them up and ask if they need a locum; it's a bit of time on the phone but unless i miss my guess you'll have no shortage of takers!

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Sal the 1st — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:30:01 GMT

I really liked it apart from a couple of places. The only reason I stopped was because I don't drive and whilst doing public transport is do able its hard work and a local full time job came up (in hindsight I should of carried on doing locums). I worked either as self employed or went on PAYE if the practice wanted it that way.Never used an umbrella company, did my own books and never had a problem with Tax/NI. I started out using agencies but after a while had a list of regulars.

adapting to new practices wasn't that difficult except for the ones who weren't really sure what they wanted and to be honest it was only a couple of really miserable places - ie you start the week covering somebody on 'holiday' (its really 'garden leave') and there is so much bad feeling in the practice that by the end of the week the other nursing staff have also walked and you are the only one left.

On the whole I would say locum is a good experience.

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Sophie Millar — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 10:01:42 GMT

Umbrella is the easiest option. but if you are essentially working full time then you are better off being a limited company because you will take more money home after claiming back expenses. Give me a shout if you need any help with finding locum work / umbrellas and limited company info!

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

SLofty — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 08:29:04 GMT

Thanks Sal, thats great advice. I appreciate it. How did you find the job in general? Did you enjoy it? Was it difficult adapting to new practices? Also how did you work, did you go Limited or did you work for an Umbrella company???

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Sal the 1st — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 00:42:44 GMT

I learnt the hard way on this - do not accept a daily rate unless you know how long that day is going to be, go for an hourly rate or you may find yourself working very long days! (9-7 + on call in my case). One agency was using daily rates at one bit (though I understand this has now changed)

If you don't want on call make sure the agency knows and also make sure the practice knows - I used to ring the practice the week before I started to confirm this.

Accommodation - if its provided check if its free or if there is a charge and also where it is just in case its miles away from the practice or it is the caravan in the car park that you walked past on the way in.

If you don't have transport and you are staying on site check out where the nearest shop is in advance - failing that take supplies with you.

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

SLofty — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 21:02:32 GMT

That's great to know thanks! Anybody had any bad experiences whilst being a locum or with locums in general? Any advice on what to watch out for etc?

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Sophie Millar — Mon, 14 Sep 2015 15:08:51 GMT

Huge demand there trust me. I'm always looking for nurses!

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

Rachel Woodcock — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 22:16:51 GMT

Huge demand in that area so I hear!

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

bunnyshouse — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 20:49:42 GMT

unfortunately i only have experience of working in London but there always seems to be work there.

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

SLofty — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 20:46:55 GMT

I'm based in Lancashire.

RE: Locum veterinary nursing

bunnyshouse — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 20:42:31 GMT

Where are you based?