FAQ: What is NASGP’s ‘locum rates calculator’?
Complete NASGP’s locum rates calculator to help you work out your baseline hourly or sessional locum rate. Once you’ve done this, you can then tailor the rate according to your experience, skills and different practices you work in.
Two main factors influence the rates you should charge GP practices as a GP locum: what seems fair, given the costs you incur, and the market rate for someone with your experience, providing the service you offer. All these things affect how much you can earn as a GP locum.
Our locum rates calculator covers the first of these, taking into account all the expenses you have to pay – such as professional memberships, NHS appraisal, and accountancy and tax advice.
The second factor – market rate – is more difficult to define. The BMA used to publish suggested rates, but no longer does this due to legal concerns about anti-competitive behaviour (see below).
Other factors affect rates too. These could include skills and experience, how much notice the GP locum gets before the practice books them, and local supply and demand. You’ll probably need to weigh up many influences when deciding your rate.
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How our locum rate calculator works
Read our full article for advice on how to decide your rates.
If it seems too difficult to balance all these factors – and you can’t ask other GP locums, given the legal difficulties of discussing rates with colleagues – you could base your rates on what you’d expect to earn for the same workload in a fairly paid salaried post. Include an allowance for your professional and personal running costs, and for leave (annual, sick and study) and this should help you arrive at a ballpark sessional or hourly rate. This is basically how our locum rates calculator works.
"Thank you for all your help. I put my sessions on in Mid-Nov and within a day, I was already booked up for the next six weeks until the Christmas holidays. It's a huge weight off my mind."
Dr Francesca Cappelluto, GP, London