In today’s demanding healthcare landscape, merely keeping the doors open and the rota filled is no longer a sustainable business strategy. For both Optometry and Pharmacy owners, the path to financial health and long-term viability lies in Enhanced Clinical Services (ECS).

These services - from Glaucoma monitoring schemes in optometry to Independent Prescribing clinics in pharmacy - represent the future of revenue generation. They offer better margins, attract new patients, and position your practice as an essential community health hub. However, the major hurdle is always the same: capacity.

Your permanent, highly skilled staff are already stretched thin covering core services (dispensing, routine sight tests). How do you launch or scale a new, lucrative service without causing burnout or compromising quality?

The answer isn't always another permanent hire. It's a strategic deployment of locum professionals.

This is your guide to transitioning locums from 'emergency cover' to a powerful, revenue-generating resource.

1. The Revenue Reality: Why ECS is Critical

Enhanced Services move your practice up the value chain.

The challenge is that scaling these high-margin services requires dedicated time and specialised skills -resources that are often locked up in the daily routine.

2. The Strategic Locum Shift: From Cover to Capacity

Model 1: The Capacity Creation Swap

This is the most straightforward and effective model for freeing up your most valuable asset: your permanent staff.

• The Play: Instead of dedicating your locum to the high-value service, you assign them to the high-volume, routine tasks.

• Optometry Example: A locum Optometrist covers the main routine sight-testing clinic for a full day. This allows your permanent Optometrist (or a highly experienced staff member) to dedicate their entire day to a specialist Glaucoma monitoring or Dry Eye clinic, maximising the number of higher-fee services you can bill for.

• Pharmacy Example: A locum Pharmacist handles the dispensing and checking counter. This frees your permanent Pharmacist, who is an Independent Prescriber, to run a back-room Minor Ailments clinic for eight uninterrupted hours.

The Value: The cost of the locum is effectively offset by the increased revenue and higher margin generated by the dedicated enhanced service clinic.

Model 2: The Specialist Strike Team

In an ideal world, every locum you hire is a generalist. But in reality, many locums invest in advanced qualifications, offering you a tactical hiring advantage.

• The Play: Hire a locum specifically because they possess an advanced skill your permanent team lacks or has limited capacity for.

• Optometry Example: You need to pilot a new post-operative cataract service but none of your permanent staff are accredited. You hire an accredited locum for a fixed, short-term contract to launch the service, build the patient base, and train your permanent team, significantly de-risking the launch.

• Pharmacy Example: You schedule a series of weekend travel health clinics to maximise seasonal income. You specifically search for a locum Pharmacist who is also an Advanced Vaccinator, ensuring seamless service delivery during peak hours without disrupting weekday staff.

The Value: You gain immediate, project-based access to high-demand skills without the long-term salary commitment of a specialist permanent hire.

Model 3: The Surge Capacity Play

Some enhanced services are naturally seasonal or subject to unpredictable demand spikes. Over-staffing permanently for these periods is financially inefficient.

• The Play: Use locums to create a temporary "buffer" that allows you to absorb peak demand and maximise throughput.

• Pharmacy Example: During the critical three-month flu season, you hire an additional two part-time locums whose hours are only dedicated to vaccination appointments. This allows your permanent team to maintain dispensing standards while your practice capitalises on the brief, intense demand for jabs.

• Optometry Example: After securing a new NHS contract for a specific service, you use locums to manage the initial surge of patient referrals, preventing waiting lists from growing and ensuring you meet performance metrics immediately.

The Value: You capture all available revenue during high-demand windows, protecting your reputation for efficiency and avoiding the need to turn away profitable work.

Future-Proofing is Strategic Staffing

Future-proofing your practice isn't just about investing in new equipment; it's about investing in the flexibility of your workforce.

By shifting your perspective, you change your locum spend from a necessary operational cost into a strategic financial investment. A locum booked to cover a routine service is an investment in the revenue generation of your permanent team.

By using platforms that allow you to specify advanced qualifications and manage flexible rotas efficiently, you stop simply filling gaps - you start strategically building a more profitable, resilient business model.

What’s Next?

You have the strategy. Now you need the platform to execute it flawlessly.

Locate a Locum gives owners the control and flexibility to move beyond basic cover. Our platform allows you to effortlessly search for locums with the exact advanced skills and certifications required for high-margin enhanced services. Manage your flexible rota, confirm bookings, and ensure compliance - all in one place.

Get the right professional, at the right time, to drive your growth.

✅ Sign Up as an Organisation and Start Booking Capacity, Not Just Cover.