10 SECRETS

January and February have always been slow months for locum pharmacists. Employees don’t want to go on holiday in the colder months so less locums are needed to fill gaps in coordinators planners.

However it’s a good time to look at your business. Many locums forget that they run a business but just any business, customers will always be loyal to those who have provided them with a good service.

As a way of focusing locums on the service they provide, we will be running a ten day “Top Tips” for locums starting next Monday. I hope you find it helpful and would welcome feedback from interested parties.

Fancy a trip to Norfolk?

We are looking for a locum pharmacist who can work in Norfolk. Work is available most days at very good rates.

Please call Dee on 01454 299215 for more info or email dee@pluk.co.uk

Why?

I sometimes wonder about pharmacists. Dee has spent the whole day sorting out bookings for a newly registered pharmacist at fantastic rates. When she called him back to confirm all the bookings he said that he’d forgotten that he’d signed a contract with Lloyds and couldn’t Locum. If I were Lloyds I’d be getting out before he “forgets” something else!

Shaun Hockey

Shaun is a Director of PL-UK Ltd – a respected provider of pharmacy jobs, both permanent and locum.

Has the £25 barrier been broken?

Ever since the fallow year of 2000, locum pharmacists have come up against a virtual glass ceiling when negotiating rates. The ceiling was £25 per hour an although some locums manged to negotiate slightly highly hourly fee’s for last minute bookings, most resorted to travel time to increase their income.

2008 has been different. We have been able to negotiate rates of £27, £30 and even £40 for our locums on numerous occasions. Why have things changed? I believe there’s a couple of main reasons.

Firstly everyone (Even locum coordinators) understands that in the present economic climate, things are tough and they expect goods and services to cost more. In addition there is no doubt that the increased demand on pharmacists time by additional services and 100 hour pharmacies has made a commodity that is in short supply, i.e. good quality locum pharmacists, even more in demand.

Whatever the reason we believe that these increased rates are here to stay so don’t fall for the usual attempt by the multiples, come the end of August to succeed. Demand that the increased rates remain and help yourself ease the pain of the credit crunch.

Shaun is a Director of PL-UK Ltd – a respected provider of pharmacy jobs, both permanent and locum.

Kent

Locums required all week in Kent. Call Dee on 01172309955 for more details

Prison Service

Stacks of work coming in every day. For jobs in the North call Linda on 01677 424215 for South call Dee on 01172309955

Stornoway

By Shaun Hockey
We are still looking for one more locum to start at the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway. We are offering experienced hospital pharmacists £30 plus free accommodation for the duration of your stay. We already have one locum there who really loves it there.

Long days, short nights, countryside and coastline that’s second to none and a really lovely department with fantastic staff.

Call Shaun on 0800 8818844 during office hours or 07971187921 in the evening of weekends

Wikipedia entry for Stornoway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stornoway

Ethan Richardsons testimonial about working at the Western Isles Hospital – well worth a read if you’ve got this far!

http://shaunyh1.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/48/