Locum Rates in London for 2023

Hospitals in Greater London have collectively agreed to cap the hourly rates they will pay locum doctors, as part of a cost-cutting measure. This articles explains where those rates apply, how much you can expect to be paid, and your options if you want to earn more.

Where do the Rates Apply?

This map shows where the pan-London rates apply (in blue), and a selection of hospitals surrounding London where you can expect to receive higher rates. See the bottom of the article for a full list.

These rates apply to locum jobs worked through both the hospital banks and locum agencies.

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What are the Pan-London Rates?

The rates are as follows:

   👉  Senior House Officer

         Core: £36.14 per hour

         Anti-social: £43.37 per hour

   👉  Registrar ST3+

         Core: £45.18 per hour (£56.48 per hour in A&E)
         Anti-social: £54.21 per hour (£67.77 per hour in A&E)

   👉  Consultant

         Core: £73.05 per hour (£89.11 per hour in A&E)
         Anti-social: £86.61 (£106.05 per hour in A&E)

There tends to be more flexibility for Registrars than SHOs, with £55 - £60 per hour for core hours achievable in some cases. It will vary more for Consultants depending on the specialty, the level of seniority of the Consultant, and the level of demand.

What are core and non-core hours?

Core hours - Defined as any work carried out between 7am and 7pm.

Non-Core hours - Are defined as any work carried out between 7pm and 7am.

For non-core hours, locum doctors will normally paid an increased hourly rate to reflect the unsocial nature of working these hours.

What hourly rate can I expect in Greater London after taxes and deductions?

Calculating what your hourly rate after all deductions are made, can vary greatly between individuals as you’ll need to consider the following deductions:

• Tax Code and taxable income - Are you on the basic or higher rate?
• Student Loans - Whether you have any and what your repayment plan is?
• Pensions - Not every agency or bank will sign you up for the NHS pensions as it’s expensive for the employer

We won’t get into how much you’ll pay for each of these deductions here as they’re quite complex topics, but you can read more about them in our 2 articles here below.

    👉  Decoding Your Locum Payslip

    👉  Managing Your Finances as a Locum Doctor

However, here’s how much you can expect to take home in 2022 (Net), based on working 8 hours a day (with a 30-minute unpaid break), on Repayment Plan 2 (Student Loans), and contributing to the NHS Pension at the following rates:

    👉 SHO on £36.14/h: Daily Rate (£161.16), Hourly Rate (£21.49)

    👉  Registrar on £45.18/h: Daily Rate (£191.62), Hourly Rate (£25.55)

    👉  Consultant on £73.05/h: Daily Rate (£291.22), Hourly Rate (£38.83)

You can see how this compares to the rest of the UK in our article on Locum Rates which you can find here.

Can I Ever Get More Than This?

Yes, occasionally. There are cases where the hospitals can escalate rates above these levels (called ‘break-glass’ provisions) in certain cases. Typically, however, if you're looking for a longer term block of locum jobs in London, this will almost always be at the Pan-London rates.

How often the break-glass rules are invoked varies significantly from hospital to hospital, so it's best to check with colleagues or your recruitment consultant to see what is achievable.

At the SHO level, for example, you might expect to get £40 - £45 per hour for core hours, and up to £50 per hour at best for anti-social hours.

Of course, the obvious way of increasing your hourly rate is to look at hospitals outside of London, where these rates are commonplace. We've included some of the closest hospitals to London which have non-capped rates in the map above and the list below. If you're interested in finding out other ways to increase your locum rate, you can check out these two articles.

    👉  Tips to Increase Your Locum Pay

    👉  How to Negotiate a Better Locum Rate

What Could My Annual Salary Look like?

If we use the core rates from above we can work out an annual gross salary by making the following assumptions. You will:

• work 10-hour shifts (with a 30-minute unpaid break)
• work 5 days a week
• work 47 weeks per year (5 weeks unpaid holiday)

With these calculations, here’s what you can expect to earn annually as a:

    👉  SHO: £80,682.55

    👉  Registrar: £100,864.35

    👉  Consultant: £163,084.13

Calculating Your Salary

We've created the Locum Doctor Salary Calculator to help you work out how much your could earn annually, based on your grade, specialty and region. You can use this to work out the answer to questions such as "Can I earn £100,000 as a Locum SHO?", "How many days a week will I need to work to match my F2 Salary?" amongst many others. To find out more about how it works, read this article here.

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If you're looking for locum jobs and are keen to quickly find out what work is available from the best locum agencies, you can check out the Messly locum app here.

With Messly's app, the best locum agencies compete for you, offering you real shifts before you’ve even shared your contact details. Most doctors on Messly get pitched suitable shifts by three or more agencies within 24 hours. More choice means better rates, less travel, and your pick of departments.

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Within Pan-London Rate Cap

Barnet Hospital

Central Middlesex Hospital

Charing Cross Hospital

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

Croydon University Hospital

Ealing Hospital

Epsom General Hospital

Guy's Hospital

Harefield Hospital

Hillingdon Hospital

Homerton University Hospital

King George Hospital

King's College Hospital

Kingston Hospital

Newham University Hospital

North Middlesex University Hospital

Northwick Park Hospital

Princess Royal University Hospital

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich

Queen's Hospital, Romford

Royal Brompton Hospital

Royal Free Hospital

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital

St Helier Hospital

St Mary's Hospital

St Peter's Hospital

St Thomas' Hospital

The Royal London Hospital

The Whittington Hospital

University College Hospital

University Hospital Lewisham

West Middlesex University Hospital

Whipps Cross University Hospital

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Outside Pan-London Rate Cap

Basildon University Hospital

Broomfield Hospital

Colchester Hospital

Darent Valley Hospital

East Surrey Hospital

Frimley Park Hospital

Lister Hospital

Luton & Dunstable University Hospital

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospital

Medway Maritime Hospital

Princess Alexandra hospital

Royal Berkshire Hospital

Royal Surrey County Hospital

St Peter's Hospital

Stoke Mandeville Hospital

Watford General Hospital

Wexham Park Hospital

Wycombe Hospital

‍+ many others further afield

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This article is part of a wider series of resources and guides that are designed to support you as a locum doctor, covering areas such as getting your first job, managing your finances, understanding your rights, and many more. Visit our Locum Doctor Hub for everything you need to know about locuming today.

Additionally, if you're considering an F3 year, you might also find it useful to look through the selection of resources we've put together in our F3 Resource Hub.