The risks of being a locum

I met a senior casualty nurse lately who told me about the difficulty of doctors in training changing every six months; they had to fit into established routines and practices. The same applies to locum GPs starting at a new practice. Established members of staff, including receptionists, might see themselves as the unacknowledged captain, running the ship. They want no challenge to established practice, especially from a locum GP. There will be occasions when they can be heard perpetrating the lowly status that locums are held in… “Your doctor is away, I am afraid. We only have a locum if you want to see him.” This is where the relationship starts between the new locum GP and the patient.

The secretary or nurse is often permanent and established, protected by employment law as well as by established relationships in the practice. The GP locum is temporary and vulnerable; their reputation is entirely dependent on the answer to the question that the GP principal asks his receptionist on his return: “How did the locum get on?”