When you run a dental practice, there are probably only a very few people involved. Many practices only have two or three dentists, the practise nurses, and reception staff, and this means that there can be problems if someone goes sick. All right, if they have a cold and are off for two or three days you can probably manage to deal with that. If it is one of the dentists, that will mean that you have to contact all his or her patients over those few days and re-book their appointments. But you can probably manage.
However, what do you do when a dentist is off for several weeks? Or when he or she goes on holiday to a green list country and suddenly finds that it changes to amber or even red, and they are stuck abroad, or may be able to get back but then have to quarantine for ten days? If they’ve had a fortnight off, that suddenly adds up to nearly a month. So, the only thing that you can do under these circumstances is to hire a locum.
However, the trouble is that hiring a locum can be expensive. A locum dentist with 40 UDAs per day can cost up to £500 a day, which is not exactly cheap. On that basis, if you have to hire the locum to cover the holiday and delayed return mentioned above, it is going to cost your practice the best part of £10,000.
This is why it is so vital to have dentist locum insurance for your practice so that you are covered for these largely unforeseen and unavoidable absences. However, you don’t want just any old locum insurance, but rather locum insurance that is tailored to your exact needs, and obviously this can vary enormously from one practice to another. What is perfect for one practice may be entirely unsuitable for another.
At Approachable Locum Insurance, our team of expert consultants will listen to your needs and ensure that the cover that you get is perfect for your practice, while at the same time making certain that it is affordable and provides all the cover that you need. One of the most important features of the cover that we can provide is that it only features a 12-month pre-existing clause, rather than the 24 or even 36 months that most other policies require. This means that even a new practice can get covered and have the peace of mind that goes with knowing that your small team is covered, no matter what.
Furthermore, our insurance cover also features a continuation option. What that means is that if one of your key personnel suffers from a deterioration in their health it will not be used as a reason to cancel or restrict your policy in any way whatsoever. So, once you are insured, you are insured, and that’s it.
It is well worthwhile sitting down and considering exactly how you handle staff absences at present. What costs are incurred when you have staff absences, and what could be improved? We can tailor your policy so that it exactly covers your requirements, no more and no less. It is also worth noting that the longer period of deferment that you can allow for, the lower the premium will be. Your policy can also cover you from the very first day of any staff absence if that is what you require.
Furthermore, your policy can cover many different types of absences including jury service, bereavement, paternity, and suspension cover as well. Talk to us about your requirements.
