Fixing maximum locum pay risks patient safety

The British Medical Association has warned that fixing maximum locum pay rates across London is unnecessarily increasing pressure on doctors and risking patient safety.

With the Pan London Bank and Agency Steering Group having set a ceiling of £20 per hour for foundation doctors, £50 or £67 for associate specialists depending if they are working anti-social hours, and a highest rate of £100 per hour for an emergency medicine consultant working unsocial hours, the BMA’s junior doctors committee has claimed that such a trend impacts on the availability of resources elsewhere.

The committee says that trusts would, typically, offer an unrealistic rate and fail to attract locums, causing understaffing, additional hours and extra pressure on an already overworked workforce.

Contrastingly, raised rates means locums would be brought in at short notice and with little knowledge of the department, damaging communication and continuity of care.

Jeeves Wijesuriya said: “We are not getting the staff internally working these shifts, and at the eleventh hour either higher rates are being allowed for external locums or, more commonly, staff are being forced to work beyond their hours. This is yet another area in which greater flexibility, better notice and appropriate rates for internal staff could save money instead of worsening safety issues by putting pressure on an already overstretched workforce.”