Veterinary Locum Jobs In The UK

At the moment [ May 2008 ] the average pay for a vet locum is between £180.00 and £200.00 per day plus other benefits. There are a few more highly qualified or highly experienced locums who charge more than this, sometimes considerably more. You will also meet the odd employer who tries to offer you rates lower than this. If you are coming from abroad and have been qualified for between one to two years then this is the sort of figure you will be getting.

If you are undertaking a locum where you are in sole charge of a practice then this merits a higher fee and if there are on call emergency duties then you should ask for more to cover this extra work

How much experience do I need?

admin — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:08:06 +0000

How much experience should you have before working in the UK as a locum? Well I have employed a number of locums over a twenty five year period so I guess I can answer this. While it depends to some extent on the individual I would have said you need a minimum of two years experience before you should contemplate this type of employment.

As a locum you will generally be paid more than an assistant with the same amount of experience but you will be presenting yourself as someone who can work with a minimum amount of supervision. It is not realistic to expect to be paid a top salary and then get a large amount of on job training as well. If you are receiving support and training to carry out basic procedures then clearly this could affect your self employed status.

So how does this two years experience work out in terms of ability? No one expects you to be able to carry out complex orthopaedic operations on your own but you should be relaxed and confident with all elective procedures such as bitch spays and you must be capable with consultations. The best advice I can give you is always honestly discuss your abilities with your prospective employer before taking the job, could save a lot of friction between both parties.

Sometimes in the UK such as during the last foot and mouth outbreak it is was very difficult to find vets including locums and in these times you find that anyone with right qualifications will easily find a job. During the last foot and mouth outbreak I did in fact employ a new graduate locum from South Africa as well as a couple from New Zealand who had very little experience, actually it worked out not too badly as I recall but I had to spend a lot of time supporting all three of them. You can see that there is a supply and demand factor at work in locum employment as well as experience.

Tip: Always make your employer aware of your level of experience before taking a locum position

How do you find your vet locum job?

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:32:04 +0000

Veterinary Locum Jobs UK

Ok you have done your research, you know you can register with the RCVS or you are already registered, you are either in the UK or coming to the UK shortly, how do you find your veterinary locum Job? There are a number of ways:

1. You can register with one of the established conventional veterinary locum agencies, there are quite a number of them in the UK. How they operate is to find work placements and then act as a go between between you and the prospective employers. They charge a fee for this service which is paid by the employers but a good veterinary locum agency will work for their money, they will have in depth knowledge of the practices needing locums and will assess and match the available locums to the practices concerned. This way both you the locum and the practices concerned are more likely to be happy at the end of the period of employment.

I for example was told more than once that certain locums were available but would not suit me for whatever reason and I have no doubt that it works the other way round as well that locums are told that certain practices would be unsuitable for them as well. Another example of a poor locum placement would be to put a new graduate in a sole charge situation or where there is a high workload. It pays to be with a veterinary locum agency who researches the current employment situation and will advise you in depth. You may find that some of the agencies will advise you on other matters such as your tax situation, what to charge, accommodation etc. and will liaise between the locums and the employers to resolve any disputes which may occur.

So how do you find a good veterinary locum agency, well we have a listing of veterinary locum agencies on this site, see the link on your left thats a good start. You can run a Google search thats a very good way as well, use the search box on the top this site as it has been optimised for specific searches. Search on ” veterinary locum agencies UK ” or ” vet locum agencies UK “. I would say though that the best way to find a good agency would be by word of mouth or personal recommendation.

2. There are some web sites available now where you can leave your details and vets wishing to employ locums can list their details also. Most likely this works well in most cases but it is up to each party to to interview each other probably via E-mail or on the phone so you will never really be sure of the situation until the period of employment starts. Also you will have no one to turn to for general advice or help in the very rare situations where major problems arise. Like not being paid for example ….

3. There are adverts in some publications such as The Veterinary Record and The Veterinary Times both for vet practices seeking locums and locums seeking employment. Again in most cases these jobs will work out fine but beware of the same potential snags that I have listed in section 2. These publications also run adverts for veterinary locum agencies as well.

Tip: The best way to find a good veterinary locum agency is by word of mouth.

What are the qualifications to work as a vet in the UK?

admin — Tue, 20 May 2008 06:02:43 +0000

What qualifications will you need to work as a vet in the UK? That’s as easy question to answer, you have by law to be registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons ( RCVS ) before you can work as a vet in the UK.

Who can register with the RCVS ?

1. Anyone with a degree awarded by one of the six veterinary schools in the United Kingdom.

2. Graduates from recognised veterinary schools in the European Union including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

3. Graduates from recognised veterinary schools in the current Accession Countries including Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania , Bulgaria.

4. Graduates from some foreign countries where the qualifications are recognised by the RCVS including Australia, New Zealand , South Africa , USA and Canada.

4. Graduates from countries not listed above who have passed the RCVS Statutory Examination for Membership.

Tip: Make certain you are eligible for registration with the RCVS before coming to the UK.

Note: While every effort is made to keep this web site up to date the requirements for registration with the RCVS will change from time to time. Please check directly with the RCVS to confirm the current position.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

admin — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:54:57 +0000

Vet Locum Jobs UK

Professional Indemnity Insurance is the type of insurance policy the main purpose of which is to cover you against any legal action a client may bring against you in the course of your work as a veterinary surgeon. Remember we are in the age of litigation now in the UK and the signs are that this culture will only get worse.

The company I used was the Veterinary Defence Society and I had a couple of occasions where I was very glad I had signed up with them. I hasten to add these claims involved employees of mine rather than me personally, but it could just have easily have been me, that’s for sure.

As a locum one of the first things you should ask a prospective employer is ” does the practice have indemnity cover? ” if the answer comes back as a yes then that most likely covers you as a locum as well. But beware because …

1. Vet practice principals are only human, some are great at doing admin and few may be awful, perhaps for some reason or another the indemnity insurance fees have been forgotten or not been paid. It is also down to the practice to phone the insurance company and advise them of the locum being employed for whatever period for your insurance cover to be activated.

2. I have read elsewhere that there is a possibility that if the claim of negligence is brought against the locum after the contract period has ended then the locum is no longer in the service of the practice and no longer insured.

3. Some insurance companies are better than others, some might look for loopholes to avoid paying out on a prospective claim.

My own view is that it is better to be safe than sorry. If you are going to work in the UK for any period of time and perhaps work in quite a few jobs in that time then it would be sensible to arrange your own personal professional indemnity insurance policy. Given you potential earnings the cost is not that great and if anything goes wrong you will have peace of mind.

Tip: Always ensure you have indemnity insurance cover.

Other Benefits.

admin — Sun, 18 May 2008 01:31:59 +0000

Veterinary Locum Jobs UK

From one of my previous posts you will have some idea what the current locum fees are in the UK, of course there are other benefits as well. The two main benefits which spring to mind are accommodation and cars.

Accommodation: This is almost always provided and can vary from a small flat in the practice [ read converted cupboard ! ] to a nice house away from the surgery. I had a house in the next town which was for locum use but sometimes it was occupied, when that happened I put up the locums in a local bed and breakfast or a small hotel.

Transport: I will be covering the tax position of locums in depth in forthcoming articles but the use of the car is a bit of a minefield. If a car is provided then it is understood it is for use in the course of the business of the of the veterinary surgery concerned. If a locum uses a practice car for personal use such as taking in the local tourist attractions or visiting friends then it could affect their self employed status. Having said this some practices turn a blind eye to a moderate amount of personal use of practice vehicles. If you are working for a large animal or mixed practice then a car is likely to be provided for your use during the locum, small animal practices may have an ambulance to be used for the odd house visit or emergency so in that case a car would not be provided. The trend over the last ten years or so has been for a great reduction in house visits.

It would be normal to be paid a mileage allowance if you use your own car on practice business.

Tip: If you drive a car provided by the practice always make sure that you are covered by the practice car insurance. Some policies exclude people under twenty five years of age for example.