The new way to find locum work

Messly’s mission is to support doctors as you seek out a happy and rewarding medical career. Today, we are announcing a new service from Messly to help you find locum work on your terms.

Messly has supported NHS doctors through training since 2016. Over 30,000 of you have used our Training Navigator to read ratings and reviews of training programmes and rotations. Doctors increasingly want to step off the treadmill of training to try more flexible and rewarding careers. That's most obvious with F2s, where over 70% of you will take an F3 year into 2021.

The challenges of locuming

You told us that stepping away from the certainty and structure of training and ‘going it alone’ feels like jumping into an abyss. The breadth of options is confusing, there are no support structures and you’ll need to figure out so many things for the first time.

The most daunting part of that is finding regular, rewarding and safe work - especially if you plan to locum for all or part of your time outside training.

All the locum agencies claim to have access to the best work at the best rates. You’d like to know who has what work before you register with them, and you’re not sure who will look after your best interests.

The new way to find locum work

Messly has flipped the process around to put you in control, so you can find locum work quickly and easily on your terms.

You create a profile which says exactly what kinds of work you're looking for, where in the country you want to work and what rates you expect.

‍

‍

You'll be ‘pitched’ by multiple agencies, offering you shifts matched to those needs. If you’re interested, you share your contact details with the recruiter, but if not your details stay private and they can’t message you again.

‍

‍

You can see all the relevant work that’s available really quickly and without any hassle. That means you’re more likely to find that perfect locum gig… rather than picking an agency or two at random and hoping for the best!

So far we’ve helped 150 doctors, many of them F3s, find the best agency for their needs. Most doctors will get 2-3 messages within a few days of creating their profile, and can then start work from a week or so after that.

Getting started

We are now opening up the service more widely. If you’re considering locum work, click here to create your profile. It takes less than five minutes and of course it’s completely free.

We hope that by making it easier to find work, and by putting control in your hands, we'll encourage doctors that are unhappy or unfulfilled in training to work more flexibly and continue delivering care in the NHS.

We will soon be adding agencies in Australia and New Zealand to the service, and we hope to work with hospital staff banks directly in the near future too.

We will continue to support the Foundation Year 3 Doctors group on Facebook, and write detailed guides about locuming, F3 years and paths back into training on the Messly Blog.

Reviews from doctors

Here is some feedback from doctors who’ve already used the service:

Dr Richard P • ST3 Anaesthetics
“I used my profile to show off my experience and say what kinds of work I wanted, down to what rates I expected and how far I was prepared to travel, so I only get messages about relevant work”

Dr Sadie H • SHO Paediatrics
"I can easily be in touch with multiple agencies to see what's out there, without having to have many phone calls or do all the compliance upfront"

Dr Umer K • SHO Medicine
“I got a message that matched my requirements the same day I made my profile, and I had an induction later that week”

Dr Sarah M • GP Leeds
"Agencies tell me what work they have in advance, so I only share my contact details once I have seen specific roles and I am sure they match my needs"

‍

This article is part of a wider series, supporting doctors like yourself with a comprehensive set of guides to ensure your F3 year is a success. These guides cover everything from initial planning, options for moving abroad, help with finding work, and tips for making the most of the experience. Click here to visit our F3 Resource Hub to explore the full list of guides and articles.

‍