Locum lifelines

The use of locum workers within UK laboratories has become commonplace over recent years and as a result they are now a vital resource. Barry Hill talks to a spokesperson for Labmed, one of the UK’s leading Locum Agencies for his views on the subject

MANY NHS laboratories would be in serious difficulties today if it were not for the availability and deployment of locum agency staff. Recruitment and retention problems, increasing workloads and low morale over recent years have all conspired to see many laboratories struggling to cope, an observation which Neil Webb, marketing and communications manager for Maxxima Group, incorporating Labmed Recruitment has sympathy with. “Given the pressures placed upon laboratories today to hit their targets and remain within their annual budgets, its difficult to imagine many pathology departments surviving without the support of locums”. 

Neil believes that over recent years the NHS has realised that temporary recruitment is a huge area of expenditure which historically has been badly managed, as he outlines “All types of agencies, ranging from huge multi-million

"Locum work can often provide freedom and flexibility"

pound companies to one men operations working from home were supplying staff to the NHS. No one was checking their credentials so there was huge clinical risk and of course budget wastage. To combat this, the NHS asked its Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) to oversee a contract which agencies such as ourselves applied. As part of this process, we had to show what checks we carry out on all our candidates, prove that we have the necessary levels of insurance and set our fees at a standardised level. Of the 350 or so agencies that were previously operating in this market, PASA only selected 42 for their Framework, of which Labmed are one, which effectively rubber-stamps the quality of the service that we provide. Also the NHS recruitment market is becoming increasingly contracted with the appointment of Preferred Suppliers and Master Vendors for each Strategic Health Authority (SHA) throughout the country. Labmed have partnerships with the large PLC recruitment agencies that have historically won such multi-trust agreements, allowing us to place staff in their regions. Furthermore Labmed have just been selected as Master Vendor for the entire Yorkshire & Humber region covering all 27 Allied Health Professionals (AHP) and Health Science Services (HSS) professions across 35 Trusts, which is quite an achievement”.

Unfortunately however, the locum scene has suffered from a poor reputation in the past as Neil is only too well aware of. “This is a hangover from the days when some agencies were perceived to be taking advantage of the NHS whilst paying little attention to the quality of staff they provided. Since the implementation of the PASA Frameworks however, the bad agencies have been filtered out. What remains is a far more legislated market with the NHS receiving greater quality and value for money. At Labmed we pride ourselves on working in partnership with our clients to actively help them reduce the need for locum staff. We achieve this by assisting them to strategically manage their own recruitment by supplying Management Information to predict peaks and troughs in their workload and staff requirements”. But what essentially does Neil put down the rapid rise in the numbers of Locums to over the last 10 years? “Some will suggest that it hasn’t and that there has always been a high demand for locum staff, it’s just been more hidden and managed internally in the past. Certainly if you go back 20 years, locum agencies barely existed so one assumes the departments were managing short staffed areas with their own resources. However, there has been an increased focus on the NHS in recent years in terms of waiting lists and finance. This has resulted in a greater need for locum staff to ensure that departments, which historically may have survived being under staffed but were taking longer to meet patient needs, have the resources and manpower required to hit their targets”.

Despite the vital contributions that locums make, there still lingers the view that many may lack the necessary knowledge and skills required, but Neil is quick to dismiss this myth. “The temporary staff we provide have to tick more boxes than the permanent staff employed in the same departments. Locums must produce 27 different documents including CV, references, CRB checks, proof of qualifications, inoculations and training. Also locums are often employed as trouble-shooters, asked to work in short-staffed departments to increase their output and hit their targets. As a result, locums need to be able to hit the ground running without training or supervision. They therefore are amongst the most clinically knowledgeable and skilled of all staff whilst retaining the flexibility to move from department to department. Cases of non-locum staff viewing locums as less skilled are therefore largely a thing of the past, comments on locums’ abilities now are far more complementary”.

Some observers believe however that the use of locums is only a short term solution to the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis and does not solve the long term problems the profession, but Neil believes this probably varies from Trust to Trust. “I’m sure there are some laboratories that employ locums all year round when it would be more cost effective to fill that vacancy with a permanent staff member. We all are aware there is a shortage of scientific staff and that demand exceeds supply for qualified, skilled biomedical scientists. Labmed clients tend to use locums more strategically to cover maternity leave and sickness absence for instance or to fill gaps in the short term when their permanent recruitment budget won’t stretch far enough. As a result the locums we are placing are not being used instead of permanent staff, but as well, signaling that we are actually helping overcome the recruitment and retention crisis rather than contributing to it”.

So what is Neil’s advice to anyone considering trying out the locum scene? “Its not for everyone, to be guaranteed full time employment, you need to be willing to travel the country and be prepared to go where the work is which can place a strain on personal lives. You may find yourselves dropped into some testing environments with huge work backlogs, hence the need for a locum in the first place. However there are benefits such as higher earnings. Additionally you will develop a range of skills by working in a host of different environments and learning from different people. You also tend to be protected from the red-tape which so many NHS employees endure, leaving you to concentrate on doing the job you trained to do rather than spending time on admin duties. My advice to a BMS considering locum work as a career path would be to do your homework and choose your agency carefully, try to select one that knows your market and what type of job would suit you best”.

Neil considers that due to the current climate the demand for locum agency staff will continue over the foreseeable future. “As long as the NHS is under pressure to break even financially whilst still hitting clinical targets, there will be a need for locums. Employing a flexible workforce is a relatively modern phenomenon which allows a Trust to grow or shrink its staffing at short notice in reaction to peak demands. The modern locum market however is radically different to how it used to be in the late 90’s when unscrupulous agencies were set up to take advantage and profit from the NHS’s inherent shortages. Since then legislation has been introduced and the NHS, PASA and the reputable agencies that remain are working hard to repair that image and ensure a better quality, more efficient service in the future. There should always be a place for those agencies willing to work with the NHS to improve the quality of staff and service”.

Labmed background Labmed are a specialist recruitment agency providing quality permanent and locum staff to expert areas of the NHS, private sector and overseas healthcare providers. The company specialises in supplying hard-to-fill vacancies within pathology, radiography, speech therapy and pharmacy sectors across the UK and Europe. Established in 2001, Labmed now feature on many preferred supplier lists as a result of their reputation and the service they are able to provide. The company are also a PASA approved supplier to the NHS, a ‘Sunday Times Fast Track 100’ award winner and take pride in the levels of compliance and safeguarding to which they ask their staff to adhere to. Within pathology itself, Labmed provide staff across the whole spectrum including Immunology, Histology, Cytology, MLAs, Microbiology, Haematology, Virology, Biochemistry, Blood Transfusion and Phlebotomy plus Multidisciplinary candidates. Outside the NHS, Labmed clients range from standard private healthcare providers such as BUPA and Capio Hospitals to many small private clinics and laboratories.

By Barry Hill. Barry has worked within pathology for over 30 years and specialises in the discipline of blood transfusion & haematology. A former member of the IBMS Blood Transfusion Special Advisory Panel, he is also a prolific freelance writer of short medical articles for a wide range of medical & scientific based publications.