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I anticipate graduating this summer, and have been considering agency work, having done agency nursing in my previous career. Have any other forum members done agency podiatry work in this country- in London especially- and if so what are the pros and cons- especially for someone newly qualified? Are people very much thrown in at the deep end in a new clinic every day? In nursing, attitudes to agency staff ranged from very friendly to hostile and ignorant, so I'm wondering how does podiatry compare? Also, how much work is really available and why would any PCT use agencies rather than recruiting their own staff?
I did some locum work in London about 5 years ago or so. Certainly at the time (and may still be the case) London in general was desperate for locum podiatrists and work was never hard to find through most of the major agencies.
With respect to the attitudes of staff it is variable. Most are fine - some may take issue with the fact you are on a higher hourly rate than them for the same job (a retort of 'you know you're free to locum as well if it bothers you' doesn't usually go down well FYI...)
Bear in mind you may not even see any other staff of course. You are there to cover clinics, and given that podiatry within the NHS can sometime be quite isolated anyway (trust/clinic dependant I'm sure) you may be on your own most of the time (as the person you are covering obviously wont be there). It will usually very much be a thrown in the deep end situation. They tell you where to go and you have to do it with a smile on your face - such is the nature of locum work. Don't get me started on the 10 consecutive days I had to do Dom visits around Brixton...
Personally it is not something I would have wanted to do straight after qualifying. In my opinion the strength of the NHS, particularly for a new grad, is the team around you that supports you and provides a great learning environment. You may not get this whilst working as a locum.
Agency work in UK- pros and cons?
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