At one point or another you have probably visited your local GP surgery and been given a Locum doctor for your appointment, but do you really know what the difference between a GP and a Locum is?
Well, every GP practice will have taken out Locum Insurance like that offered by companies like MPRS Locum Insurance to help cover the costs of a Locum coming into their practice to help, either on an emergency basis or for a short period of time whilst a GP might be away on holiday or maternity or paternity leave.
A Locum essentially takes the place of a regular GP whenever needed and these fully licensed doctors are often self-employed and have a contract for services in place with the practices that need their support. Some GP surgeries will try to engage with the same bank of locums if they can so that there is some consistency in who covers their regular staff, although this might not always be possible.
The best way to think about it is that Locums are like substitute teachers. They are fully qualified in what they do but they are not on the permanent payroll of the practice. The locum has to go through all of the same training as any other doctor, the only difference is that they do not have a permanent place of work.
