There is no national locum rate. Pay is agreed between the doctor and the hospital and depends on the specialty, the city, the hours, the notice given and how urgent the cover is.
Locum work is an agreement between a doctor and a hospital, so there is no official scale. Any number quoted as the national average is a guess. This guide does not quote one for that reason.
Speciality: scarce specialities and procedures usually pay more than general duty. City and setting: a metro corporate hospital and a small-town nursing home price cover differently.
Hours: a night, a 24-hour call or a weekend is priced differently from a daytime OPD session. Notice: cover needed within hours often pays more than cover planned weeks ahead.
Compare the rate against the hours actually worked, and ask whether travel, accommodation or food is included. A higher figure for a longer or harder shift is not necessarily a better offer.
Get the rate, the hours and the payment date agreed before you travel, and keep the record.
On Rounds the hospital states the rate on the shift before you accept. The hospital pays the doctor directly. Rounds takes no commission and never holds the money. A hospital can raise the rate on a shift that is still unfilled, and doctors see the new amount.
Every registration checked against NMC records. Zero commission, the hospital pays the doctor directly.
Get started