‘Desperate’ GP practices are paying agencies over £1,000 a day to source locums, GPs told Pulse.
In an email sent to GPs last month and seen by Pulse, Primary Care Medical Chambers offered GP locums ‘in excess of £1,000 per day’.
The company added: ‘Naturally, this may require you to travel and work slightly further afield so contribution towards travel expense can be organised.’ Primary Care Medical Chambers operates nationally.
Dr Abbie Brooks, a GP partner in York, told Pulse that ‘desperate’ practices will be forced to pay high day rates, and warned that skyrocketing agency rates are ‘just creating competition’. Another partner, Dr Russell, warned that the £1,000 paid to the locum is ‘probably the tip of the iceberg’, as the cost to the practice will be even more.
National Association of Sessional GPs (NASGP) chair Dr Richard Fieldhouse told Pulse that he was ‘disheartened’ to hear the news because an NASGP Locum Chambers ‘would never – and could never – set a rate in this manner’.
Dr Fieldhouse writes: “With inflation and GP shortages, it was only a matter of time before the fact that a locum agency is offering a routine day rate above £1,000 hit the headlines.
“Unlike an agency, the NASGP Locum Chambers model is an independent collaborative of local GP locums. NASGP Locum Chambers members set their own individual fees – not the chambers. And the practices pay the locum’s fee, with no additional agency fee – NASGP is not an agency.
“A particularly important factor within our model is the sense of belonging that being part of NASGP Locum Chambers brings, which creates a powerful shared professional reputation. We’re confident that this reputation will help us collectively cut through negative attitudes towards GP locums.”
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