A freedom of information request has revealed that a locum GP will be paid approximately £300 per session.
Each session usually consists of 12 patient appointments and associated admin and is defined as a period of four hours.
On the Isle of Man, the standard “allowed time” for a routine GP appointment is typically 10 minutes, intended to cover one or at most two problems.
However, the average GP appointment time has increased to an average of 17.7 minutes, reflecting the growing complexity of patient need.
The Cost
With the above taken into account, this means that by an hourly rate the locum GP will be being paid around £75 an hour for their work.
The locum “session” may also include administrative duties and home visits.
Although Manx Care says it “rarely uses” private locum GPs, however individual GP Practices which are contracted to Manx Care, do.
Manx Care said it does not hold information on the costs of private locums that practices pay for their locum support.
The health care provider added: “From time to time it has been necessary to use locum GP services in Manx Care’s salaried GP Practice (Ballasalla).
“Locum fees in that respect depends on the work the locum is being required to do.”
Keeping Dr’s License
For doctors who may have other jobs, they often work as a ‘locum’ to keep their hours up to date in order to keep their license.
The General Medical Council (GMC) requires doctors to complete an average of 50 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) annually.
This totals a minimum of 250 hours over a five-year revalidation cycle, to keep their license to practise in the UK and the Isle of Man.
This means that by working at an hourly rate of £75, a locum GP would earn approximately an extra £3,750 a year.
