FAQ: How much do GP locums earn?

How do you negotiate pay as a GP locum? We’ve created a calculator to help you arrive at a ballpark figure taking into account covering your professional and personal running costs.

But in addition to your circumstances, there may be local factors at play which could influence your locum pay environment. If you’re new to an area or new to GP locuming, how do you work out what rates to charge?

Simply asking around is not option, with anti-competition laws being quite clear about the illegality of discussing rates with fellow GP locums.

Local factors that may affect how much GP locums charge

• Supply of locums – the more locums, the more potential for downward pressure on rates. We hear this from members in the more vibrant towns and cities, perhaps with a local GP training scheme that then attracts and retains lots of GPs to start out as locums.
• Presence of a dominant practice-facing online platform or agency. We hear from members that having one of these in your area can sometimes skew the pay and conditions of local independent locums in a downwards direction.

Sessional GP locum fees on LocumDeck

With LocumDeck’s Instant Book, the whole point is that you carefully pre-define your booking parameters for each practice, including the pay rate, in advance, and then publish your terms and availability and wait for bookings. So you can make calculated judgements about the pay you would like to receive and use Instant Book to do the talking for you. Bear in mind too that the Instant Book process itself will add to your ‘value’, as practices are being offered a speedy, transparent way of booking a GP – a task that might otherwise cost them significant workload and resources.

Discussing rates with colleagues: a guided approach

When it comes to setting your locum rates, it’s natural to seek advice and insights from your peers. However, it’s essential to navigate these discussions carefully to comply with competition law as outlined by the British Medical Association (BMA) and UK government regulations.

What’s permissible

According to the BMA’s updated guidance from last October, GP locums are allowed to discuss the rates they charge an existing employer for their services. This means it’s acceptable to share information in the context of what you personally charge for your work at a specific location. For example, you might say:

• “I work for a surgery in [X location] and I charge [£Y amount] per session.”

This approach allows for transparent sharing of individual experiences without influencing the decisions of others.

What to avoid

However, there are clear boundaries on what constitutes anti-competitive behaviour. Specifically, locums must not suggest or imply that others should adhere to a minimum rate. For instance, you should not say:

• “I work for [£Y amount] per session in [X area], and you or nobody else should work for any less than that amount.”

Such statements could be interpreted as an attempt to fix prices or influence the market unfairly, which is against competition law.

Government guidance

The UK Government’s website further emphasizes that discussing future pricing plans with other locums regarding what you’re going to charge practices is not permitted. This includes any form of agreement or understanding about setting a minimum or standard rate for services. For more details, please refer to the official guidance on anticompetitive activity.

Navigating the conversation

We encourage our locums to engage in open and honest discussions about their professional experiences, including the challenges and strategies around setting rates. However, it’s crucial to ensure these conversations do not cross into prohibited territory as defined by competition law. By focusing on personal experiences without prescribing actions for others, we can maintain a supportive community that respects legal guidelines.

For more information on setting your rates and ensuring compliance with competition laws, please refer to the BMA and UK Government resources. Following the above guidelines, GP locums can discuss rates on the NASGP Facebook Group.

Work out how much to charge for GP locum sessions on LocumDeck

• Add a local practice to your LocumDeck address book where you haven’t recently worked.
• Set a sessional/hourly rate for that practice at the level that you’d like to be booked at.
• Activate that practice for Instant Book.
• Add ‘Committed Availability’ to your LocumDeck calendar as far in advance as possible.
• As and when practices Instant Book you, you’ll soon be able to use your judgement if your rates are too high or two low, and you’ll be able to adjust your rates accordingly.

If you run this experiment for a range of practices and add availability over a range of periods in advance, you’ll soon start to build a picture of the local factors that may affect your rate decisions.

Our experience of using Instant Book is that once practices have used it, they return to it as their favoured booking method, further cementing its value to them. It is a win-win tool – locums have more control over their work and pay, whilst the practice saves significant resources in finding and directly booking locums.

Tips to finding jobs as a GP locum on LocumDeck

• Adding a photo of yourself helps practices recognise and book you for locum sessions.
• Help the practice manager by adding documentation and info about yourself in your Credentials area.
• You can upload your patient and colleague feedback surveys to increase your chance of getting booked.
• Highlight your GP locum experience or any special skills you have in the freetext Professional profile area.