When you work as an independent, stand-alone medical practitioner, it’s essential that you protect yourself against any risks you may face in your working environments. Similarly, if you’re a medical practice that employs locums, it’s also essential to reduce any risks or unforeseen circumstances.
Our knowledge, market connections and skills can help you find the best insurance for your needs.
As insurance specialists, we know only too well the disruption and costs incurred by your practice when a staff member is absent long term. A survey by GP Magazine found that more than 50% of UK GPs report an increased reliance upon locum doctors. With around 20% of GPs saying that locum doctors cover at least a quarter of shifts at their GP practice.
You can mitigate against that risk by insuring yourself and your practice against unforeseen circumstances. By having doctor locum insurance, you have the insurance cover you need to bring in a replacement or to pay colleagues who have to work extra hours to cover the absence.
Suppose you’re working as a locum practitioner. In that case, a standard locum doctor insurance policy will cover you against sickness or if you have an accident. However, you can also take out additional cover against jury service, adoption leave, family emergencies, suspension, bereavement leave and maternity leave.
You can tailor your cover to protect yourself or your practice against any eventualities.
Why Choose Us?
We’re called Approachable Locum Insurance for a reason. We’re specialists in providing insurance and advice for medical professionals and medical practices in the UK.
We’ve gained our experience over many years, including our work as an IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) and with the BMA and Wesleyan and Medical Sickness Services.
Choosing the right policy can be daunting, especially when you’re working in such high-pressure conditions. We can hold your hand throughout the entire process and take care of the details on your behalf.
Because we’re an independent specialist insurance provider, we understand the medical insurance market better than most, whether you’re an individual or a medical practice. We take an honest approach to provide you with a long-term locum insurance solution that’s tailored to your specific needs.
By explaining all the choices you have regarding locum insurance for doctors, we can help you make the right decision to get the right policy for you.
How Do I Buy Locum Insurance?
Quite simply, you can contact us either by phone on 0345 3503655, send an email to info@locuminsurance.co.uk or get a locum insurance quote online. We can provide an initial quote within minutes, giving you a few details of the choices we offer. We can then talk through the quote with you, and together we can narrow it down to a policy that suits your particular circumstances and budget. This will include how many people you may want to cover under the policy.
Contact us today to find out more details about how we can help you and your practice.
Policies typically include the following cover for insured members:
- Accident or illness anywhere in the world
- Medical and Hospital Expenses
- Funeral Expenses
- Personal Effects
- Jury Service
- Compassionate Leave Expenses
- Paternity Benefit
- Suspension Cover
- Revalidation
- Delayed Return from Holiday
Key Features of the policy include:
- High financial strength underwritten by Lloyds of London one of the most prominent insurance companies in the world.
- A 12 months pre-existing condition clause. To our knowledge this is the best on the market given our competitors either have a 2 or 3 year pre-existing condition clause (no claim can be made on a pre-existing condition during that time).
- A ‘continuation option’, meaning that the policy will not be cancelled, restricted or declined at renewal as a result of claims or on the grounds of variations in health of an insured person.
- Full 52 weeks payout. This means that if the defer (delay period) was 4 weeks the policy would pay for 52 weeks up to week 56 (our competitors tend to pay up to week 52 so for 48 weeks).
- No ‘admin charges’ or ‘broker charges’ that are associated with other policies on the market.
Locum Insurance – Doctor locum insurance
The role of London healthcare locums, agencies and healthcare providers
A doctor locum agency acts as a recruiter for practices that wish to employ medical staff temporarily. Locum staff can be assigned to hospitals, private practices and clinics where a candidate meets the specific requirements of that role. In addition, locum insurance provides practices with the opportunity to enlist these services should the need arise.
A Locum Agency Responsibilities:
- Find the best candidates for the role.
- Handle payroll and administration.
- Conduct employment checks.
- Manage human resources.
Sourcing these roles on behalf of practices saves money and time on the otherwise lengthy and costly recruitment processes. First, however, practices need to know the obligations and restrictions of locum doctors and their own. The General medical council (GMC) and the NHS outline the expectations of healthcare providers, agencies and locum doctors.
Doctors Responsibilities
- Comply with GMC regulations, warnings, conditions and restrictions.
- Comply with all aspects of the employment verification process.
- Participate in inductions carried out by the healthcare providers.
- Accurately represent skills and competencies.
- Report to relevant bodies in the healthcare provider and agency as required.
Healthcare Provider Responsibilities
Likewise, healthcare providers, i.e. practices who engage locum doctors, are expected to:
- Have an understanding of GMC restrictions.
- Clear expectations and representation of roles required.
- Proper onboarding and feedback during sessions.
- Verification of locum checks.
- Good communication with doctors and agencies.
By following this guidance, all parties can benefit from locum services. However, practices new to locum requirements will be able to find advice through our team.
