A recent report has advised the NHS to restructure its workforce to improve the service. The 92-page report, titled ‘reshaping the workforce to deliver the care patients need’, concludes that in order to boost the service’s efficiency, the workforce needs to be cut – opting to boost the training of existing staff instead. If these guidelines are to be implemented, it could directly affect the number of locum nurse and locum doctor jobs that are available.
The report examined a series of policies affecting parts of the NHS workforce, including the planned introduction of nursing associates as well as international recruitment and agency workers. The study, carried out by the Nuffield Trust, states that “organisations are facing difficulties with recruitment and retention, resulting in a growing use of expensive agency and locum staff”. The report subsequently casts locum workers in a negative light, noting the expense when compared to regular staff. However, it’s important to remember that locums play a vital role in the running of the NHS. They make up a quarter of the general practise workforce, filling in when regular GPs, doctors and nurses require time off, are unable to work or if trusts are short staffed. As well as ensuring that workforce gaps are filled, locum doctors and nurses also provide a number of unique benefits.
The temporary nature of locum nursing or doctor jobs means that they spend less time completing the admin and paperwork that is given to NHS doctors and more time treating a higher number of patients, improving the service that the NHS offers to the general public. On average a full-time doctor will see 1,600 different patients each year whilst a locum GP could see up to 10,000 individuals due to their varied role in different locations.
Because of this, locum doctors offer a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ to patients too, a subject that we have discussed in a previous blog post. Rather than becoming complacent, examining every patient without prior knowledge or assumptions can result in more effective diagnosis. As an example, one woman’s life was saved after a locum doctor urged her to visit A&E. While a regular GP had misdiagnosed the patient with IBS, the woman instead was suffering from a pancreatic cancer that was rapidly forming. In this case, the thorough work of the locum doctor saved a life.
Workers from specialised areas within healthcare such as HCA locum and RGN locum professionals also help to bridge vital skill gaps across the NHS. Due to the varied nature of their roles, locums often work alongside highly trained experts in various positions, up and down the country. In doing this, a broader depth of transferable skills are learnt which add value to the work of a locum.
Although it is clear that some action needs to be taken to restore the struggling NHS while maintaining levels of patient care, the unique skills and capabilities that can be attained through providing locum nurse and locum doctor jobs should never be forgotten.
Why did you join a locum agency? What qualities do you think define a locum worker?
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