The BMA has warned that staff grade and associate specialist (SAS) doctors, who work for extended periods as locums could be putting their career at risk due to loss of career progression or development.
The association is urging SAS doctors who have been locums for more than a year to contact it. Although locums make an invaluable contribution to the NHS, by covering senior clinician leave or temporary vacancies, employers should not be using locum appointments as long-term solutions to staffing problems and locums should, initially, be appointed for a maximum of six months, which can be extended to a year. Guidance notes that locums are not automatically entitled to be appointed to substantive posts when they are filled. It calls for SAS locums to be employed on national terms and conditions, and offers advice on hours, leave, supervision and appraisal.
