The healthcare sector has long relied on locum professionals to ensure service continuity during staff shortages.
For many organisations, managing the fluctuating demand for locum staff - whether they are pharmacists, optometrists, or other healthcare professionals - can be a logistical challenge. This is where a locum management system (LMS) steps in, offering a streamlined and efficient solution to recruit, manage, and retain locum staff.
In this article, we'll explore what a locum management system is, its benefits, and why healthcare organisations, especially pharmacies, are increasingly adopting them.
What is a Locum Management System?
A locum management system (LMS) is a digital platform designed to automate and optimise the process of hiring, managing, and scheduling locum staff across healthcare organisations. This system simplifies the workflow by providing a centralised hub for finding qualified professionals, booking them for shifts, ensuring compliance, and processing payments, all in real-time.
LMS platforms can be used by healthcare organisations of all sizes - from national optometry chains to independent community pharmacies - to streamline locum hiring processes, reducing the time and effort involved in manual recruitment and administration.
Key Features of a Locum Management System
A robust locum management system provides several critical features designed to make locum staffing easier and more efficient for healthcare employers. These include:
Locum Pool Access
One of the primary benefits of an LMS is access to a large database of qualified locum professionals. This feature allows organisations to quickly search for available locums in their area, based on their specific requirements such as skills, experience, and availability.
Shift Scheduling
Scheduling locum shifts manually can be time-consuming and error-prone. An LMS offers a digital scheduling interface where employers can post shifts, manage calendars, and receive instant notifications when shifts are filled. The system ensures that the right locum is scheduled for the right job at the right time, avoiding gaps in coverage.
Compliance Management
Compliance in healthcare is non-negotiable. LMS platforms typically include features that ensure all locum professionals meet regulatory and certification requirements. This might include automated licence verification, training certifications, and background checks to ensure that every locum on your roster is fully compliant.
Payment & Invoicing
Payment processing can be a headache, particularly when multiple locum staff members are involved. An LMS can integrate with payroll systems to automate payment and invoicing, ensuring that locum workers are paid promptly and accurately. This feature also helps to reduce financial disputes and simplify bookkeeping.
Reporting & Analytics
A good LMS will provide data-driven insights through real-time reporting and analytics. This feature helps healthcare organisations monitor staffing costs, analyse locum usage trends, and assess the return on investment for locum services.
Benefits of Using a Locum Management System
1. Time and Cost Efficiency
Manual locum management often involves juggling phone calls, WhatsApp and Telegram groups, emails, and spreadsheets, which can be inefficient. An LMS automates these processes, saving time and reducing administrative burden. By minimising the time it takes to find and hire locums, organisations can reduce costs associated with staffing delays and downtime.
2. Improved Compliance
Healthcare organisations need to ensure that every locum they hire meets regulatory and legal requirements. A locum management system can help to automatically verify credentials and maintain compliance records, offering peace of mind and reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties.
3. Increased Staffing Flexibility
Locum management systems allow healthcare organisations to easily scale their staffing levels up or down depending on fluctuating demands. For example, during periods of increased patient load or staff leave, employers can quickly fill gaps by accessing a pool of qualified locums.
4. Better Staff Retention
A digital LMS helps organisations keep track of high-performing locum professionals, making it easier to rehire the same staff in the future. Offering locums a seamless, well-organised experience encourages them to return for future work, improving retention rates.
5. Enhanced Data Insight
With built-in reporting tools, an LMS allows healthcare employers to assess trends, monitor costs, and analyse performance metrics related to locum staffing, including tracking the reasons for posting locum shifts. These data insights empower organisations to make informed decisions, optimise labour costs, and plan more effectively for the future.
Why Pharmacies Need a Locum Management System
Pharmacies, in particular, have seen a rising demand for locum professionals. With temporary closures, staff shortages, and changing healthcare regulations affecting the UK pharmacy sector, managing locum workers has become increasingly challenging. For pharmacies to thrive in this competitive landscape, adopting a locum management system can provide a competitive edge.
According to a recent study, 47,000 hours were lost due to temporary pharmacy closures in 2023, largely because of staffing shortages. A reliable locum management system can mitigate this issue by ensuring pharmacies always have access to a pool of locum pharmacists ready to cover gaps.
Why Opticians Need a Locum Management System
Optometry practices need a locum management system to efficiently manage their staffing needs, particularly during peak periods or sudden absences. This system helps reduce the administrative burden of finding and booking optom locums, ensuring practices have the right talent on hand to provide essential services.
By automating locum scheduling and ensuring compliance, opticians can focus on patient care, improving service delivery while minimising disruption. Additionally, a locum management system allows for better cost control and forecasting, making it a valuable tool for long-term planning and operational efficiency.
Conclusion
In today's fast-paced healthcare landscape, a locum management system is no longer a luxury but a necessity. It simplifies the locum hiring process, ensures compliance, and saves both time and money. Pharmacies, opticians and other healthcare organisations can greatly benefit from adopting this technology to optimise their staffing strategy and enhance the quality of patient care.
Ready to revolutionise your locum staffing process? Learn how Locate a Locum's advanced locum management system can help your organisation streamline operations and stay ahead of the curve with our LMS for Pharmacy and LMS for Optometry.