Considering locuming.......help!!

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Teh Fluffeh — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:34:55 GMT

I'm with A1 and they're fantastic. Anne is an angel who has just recently sorted me out a permanent position as I'm still a student. I'm central London based and have been earning £10-12 an hour in lovely practices. I use MAC as my umbrella company and they take 5% of my earnings as their rate and for this they'll sort out my wages, NI contributions and tax, also expenses are paid too.

Rig have kept me on their books despite me asking them several times to take me off their mailing lists as I don't like being harrassed by phone or email.

Definitely call Anne, she's a star.

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

JaneRVN — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:08:44 GMT

I have locummed for 2-3 years. I have done most of the work myself, by writing/phoning/emailing practices that I wanted to work at. Many practices like that and it saves them money!

I charge £13-15p/h and more for nights. I wouldn't touch less than £10 p/h, unquals can get that.

I have now started to use A1 and they are good. Avoid RIG, they will plague you and pay terribly. I worked in 1 place and got more for a 7 hr day shift than a RIG nurse got for a 12 hr night shift!

I would move to london if you don't drive, there is tonnes of work here, loads with accom and its easy to get around. Call Anne at A1!

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Angiy Michael — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:45:43 GMT

If you are in the South/South West def try Carlton Professional..they seem to have a fair amount of work there XX

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Angiy Michael — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:44:21 GMT

I have found Northern Locums good..they don't just cover the North by the way..they usually contact you via text, phone or email with job details and you just let them know whether you can do it or not..they give you basic practice details ie accomodation available, days etc., and then when you ring they give you the number of who to contact and you go from there..you agree your rate with the practice and let Northern know what days you have agreed to do and they invoice the practice seperately to you for a booking fee..You invoice the practice yourself and the practice pay you directly..I usually request payment via BACS to my bank account within 7 working days of invoicing...you can if you want to fax or email a booking confirmation to ensure you don't get last minute cancellations and that if you do that you get some recompense.

The other one who are good are Carlton Professional and with themyou can opt to go PAYE so as not to have to deal with the tax side of things.

If you do it as self-employed then contact the tax office to register as self-employed..have a look online for guidance. Don't forget to keep receipts for travel, RCVS fees, BVNA and CPD and to claim tax relief on laundering your own uniforms, uniform costs and shoes..if you do it full-time a quick appt with an accountant can be handy.

You could also email or write to local practices with your CV advising them of your availability so that they can keep you on file..I have found this can work quite well..and obviously use on here and the grapevine

I also do not drive so I often have to make long and complicated journeys to get to places..I basically only locum now in the holidays from uni ( am doing human nursing) so its a bit easier..but I have been known to spend 3-4 hours a day travelling to " local" locum jobs and am, doing this next week when I am on holiday. I also have one or two regular places I go to that provide accomodation and that makes life easier as you can camp out for the duration.

As soon as you can get driving if you want to do this full-time ..saves you soo much time and makes it easier to get regular work.

Abbeyhouse in Leeds are often looking for cover and I have found them pleasant to work for ..well organised etc., they also can offer accomodation on site in a duty room or off site at a branch practice..worth giving them a call and speaking to Jane White the HN to let them know you are looking.

I vary my rates depending on circumstances..ie travel costs, distance, sort of work etc., but generally charge between £12 /£14 / hr for days and £ 14/£16 / hour for nights. Some places have a set rate they pay all their locums that is non-negotiable ..but don't be afraid to set your own confidently . Abbeyhouse pay £12/hr for days & £14/hr for nights. the nights are an "awake duty" and are 12 hours with a one hour break and you have a aux and receptionist till midnight . The vets there tend to help out too with dog walking and kennel cleaning etc which is fab..if they don't the HN insists on knowing about it so she can have a word ! They are usually very prompt at settling invoices and if you like them and they like you they will usually have you back a fair bit . Hope this helps ..also hope if there are any Abbey employs on here they don't mind me sharing this info ..although hope not as I have only good things to say about you all XX

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Angiy Michael — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:44:20 GMT

The other one who are good are Carlton Professional and with themyou can opt to go PAYE so as not to have to deal with the tax side of things.

As soon as you can get driving if you want to do this full-time ..saves you soo much time and makes it easier to get regular work.

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Sophie Bedford RVN CertVNECC — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:18:09 GMT

Thanks for posting this info, I too am looking to maybe go into locum work, I was worried about how much work there is around aswell, I live in Berkshire and there are a lot of practices but not many with vacancies as far as I can tell.

If you are a locum do you think you are likely to always have positions to go into or is there lots of time where you're out of work? I need to make sure I have a steady income as have commitments do need to make sure I can still earn what I need to.

Any input would be appreciated!

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Sarah Nicholas — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:18:00 GMT

This is all really helpful, thanks guys - I was going to post too but saved me a job =) xx

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

laura dickenson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:23:27 GMT

Also if you go with an agency first then when youre confident you can go it alone

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

laura dickenson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 02:20:50 GMT

Hi,

Locumming is easy peasy and there are so many jobs out there you have your pick of what you do!!

So register with an agency, tell them which area you want to work, tell them whether or not you want accomodation, how long a position you want and that you want to earn £9-£11 per hour.

The agency with put you in touch with an umbrella company, who, for a small fee (which is worth it so you have no worries or extra work) will sort out your taxes for you.

Also you will get petrol money for your moped if you have to travel, and you also get a lunch allowance!!

Locum nursing is easy, the only down side is it could get alittle bit lonely if you were in an area for a long period you didnt know, but make new friends and that'll all be fine!!

If youve been in your practice for 12 yrs then i'd say go for it!! you learn so much by working in different places. I took 6months out to locum at Rossdales Equine practice working in intensive care with neonatal foals and its been awesome to take some time out and learn new things.

Good Luck and enjoy!!

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Caro Laithwaite VN — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:41:01 GMT

A1 ask for Anne and Shona Hostla ask for Jenny both great top folks

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Fuzzyduck — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:28:24 GMT

Carlton Professional are a really good agency from my experience. They dont use an umbrella company like some so you get the hourly rate you charge, they dont take a cut.

Sorting the tax out is really easy, you can do it online, just keep a record of your invoices and milage to claim your petrol.

Some practices are really horrid, i worked at a couple that were just aweful but then some are really nice, i usually agreed to 2 or 3 weeks first if they were looking for a long term locum then if they were dreadful i could leave. Some i left after the 2 weeks but a few i stayed for several months

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Vickipr — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:42:44 GMT

oooooh I'm interested in any answers to this too! I was actually going to post something about it before you did, so thank you!

I am considering locuming too, I currently live in London, but plan to move back to the countryside in henext year! (Yay!) I wanted to stay in my current job until then, as I have already been there for two years, and I didn't want to get another permanent job, and then mess themm around by leaving within a few months, but I'm so unhappy in my current job, I have to leave, or risk my health I think!

So, any tips are much appreciated aswell!

Re: Considering locuming.......help!!

Sal the 1st — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:35:02 GMT

I am a non driver and locummed using public transport. Its not easy but it can be done. Rail travel can be very expensive but if you can book in advance on a coach and are prepared for the journey to take a bit longer it works out cheaper. Megabus.com is a good place to start if using coach travel as is national express and it can widen your work area quite a bit

A major prob I had was that a few practices I worked at were in the middle of nowhere with no local shops etc so everything I needed for the week including food had to be packed and taken with me - getting a taxi to the nearest shop, assuming you could find a taxi was prohibitively expensive. Luckily I like savoury rice and the pasta and sauce packs and cuppa soups and cream crackers and tinned tuna supplemented with fresh fruit - but was glad it wasnt like this every week! weetabix is another good one and not too heavy to carry.

its been a few years but most of the work I turned up was in yorkshire or east coast with a bit of work in the midlands. I did use agencies on the rare occasions I wasnt able to turn up work for myself advantages of agencies are that they find you work, you can get paid through payroll and you have little paperwork. Pitfalls of agencies - you may end up working in some really miserable practices ( they use locum agencies because local nurses already know about them and already know they are not nice places to work - but on the bright side even if it was the worst place ever you knew you didnt have to stay there forever ), you may end up working for a considerably lower rate once the agency has taken their cut ( some take a lot bigger cuts than others) and as the agreement is between the practice and the agency you may find yourself having to do stuff you havnt agreed to - ie being on call and doing the inpatient checks for the whole of your locum for no extra payment because the agency said you would but forgot to tell you about it!

It is possible to turn your own work up and use an agency as a fall back. the best agency I used was recruit4vets which used to be NHSR. they paid me on time, were very efficient and didnt mess me around.

My advice would be to charge an hourly rate - that way you get paid for the work you do, if you charge a daily rate you will find that some agencies and practices will take the p and you may end up working12 or more hours when you would expect to be working 8 - I learnt the hard way!

locums are a good way of sussing out a decent practice and finding ones that you would like to work for, I was really lucky out of 5 locum jobs I had 3 practices that wanted to employ me and had they been closer to home there was at least one i would have jumped at

give your tax office a call if you are going self employed - they will send you all the info and they do run courses to show you how to keep your paperwork in order and how to pay NI contributions etc

hope some of this is useful