It can be tough navigating the working world of locum doctors. Especially if you are a Locum without NHS experience. It can be hard to know where to look for work or where to gain appropriate experience. You may be wondering if you can still work as a locum doctor without first obtaining any experience working within the NHS. This short article will help to better answer the question, Can I work as a locum with no NHS experience?
Ultimately, you can work as a locum doctor at any point in your career once you are fully qualified. Chances are you will have already completed some ward experience in an NHS-run hospital. So, you will have some on-the-job experience.
But you can become a locum doctor very early in your career with very little experience. You can go through what is known as a locum agency, which will help you find work as a locum and negotiate an appropriate wage.
Alternatively, if you have been a GP for years working in a private practice, then you could also choose to become a locum doctor at any point without having any experience working for the NHS. You may want to do this to help supplement your income or to work part-time.
You may be a fully qualified doctor who is coming to work in the UK from another country. In this case, you will not have any NHS experience, but you may have experience working as a doctor elsewhere. In order to work in the UK as a locum doctor, it is important that you hold a full license to practice, which is issued by the GMC.
You will need to apply for this before seeking locum work in the UK. Once you have obtained this, you can begin looking for work as a locum doctor through locum agencies that will help you find work. You may be required to take some less desirable or lower-paid jobs in order to gain valuable experience and be able to move on to more well-paid locum work.
The short answer is yes; you can. You can seek locum work very early on in your career or if you have just recently arrived in the UK. However, having experience working with the NHS means that you will be more likely to be accepted for locum work with the NHS, such as in NHS-run hospitals or general practices.
You should have some ward experience that you have obtained while training to become a doctor, which should help in obtaining locum work without any NHS experience. You may want to be prepared to take on some lower-paid work, and you will want to remain as flexible as you can if you are trying to obtain locum work with little or no NHS experience.
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