So you are looking to join a join pharmacy agency?
You’ve likely done the rounds online already and pulled up a thousand sites promising to fill your diary with locum work, but how can you really know which is the best pharmacy agency for you?
Don’t rely on Google. Whilst Google will churn up every available pharmacy agency on the planet, it won’t vet out the good from the bad. So what’s the best way to find a good pharmacy agency without trawling through thousands of forums and online reviews? Word of mouth. Ask your tutor’s, your friend’s, and your colleague’s about their experiences. If they’re in the pharmacy industry, it’s likely that they would have some knowledge of pharmacy agencies and they’ll give you the most honest reviews.
A good point to consider when choosing the best pharmacy agency is whether or not the agency has available staff to help you out. Is the agency just an app, or are there humans on the end of the phone waiting to listen to your concerns and assist you when needed? Whilst some pharmacy agencies boast fancy website’s and flashy apps, we know it’s important that our locum pharmacists feel supported at work and are able to come to us if they need assistance.
You should also consider how far the pharmacy agency is willing to go to assist you with your bookings. Some agencies are great filling bookings, however for Team Locum it doesn’t end there. Do you need transport or accommodation to be organised while you’re working away? Not a problem, we can help. Are you waiting on a payment from a client? Drop us an email and we can chase it up for you. We aren’t responsible for missed payments but it’s a service we offer our locum pharmacists that other agencies can’t or won’t provide.
Are you looking at registering with a pharmacy agency but you’ve noticed they’re using gimmicky sign up offers? Sure you could earn yourself a fiver by registering and booking your first shift, but ask yourself how many established pharmacy agencies you’ve seen offing such things? Yes, it could be that the pharmacy agency in question is new and looking to build their bank of locum pharmacists, or they could be struggling to take on new locums for a reason.
When searching for your prefect pharmacy agency you should also find out how well they know the industry. Can they answer your questions? Do they have the appropriate knowledge to be running a pharmacy agency? Here at Team Locum we believe that healthcare agencies need to be run by healthcare professionals, and that’s exactly what we do.
There is nothing to stop you signing up with multiple agencies. We know you don’t want to spend you free time filling out forms, but there’s no reason you can’t join a few agencies, they should be free to join after all. But it is well worth keeping notes on the registration process of each pharmacy agency. What do they ask for in the sign up process? Do they vet their staff well, and if not, are agencies who don’t do the proper checks good quality? Here at Team Locum we ask for a couple things that other agencies don’t, and take pride in the quality of our checks.
So whether you’ve got your heart set on your ideal pharmacy agency, or you’re still looking for recommendations, we hope this little guide has given you some food for thought. Team Locum are always on hand to answer any questions you might have about locum life so please feel free to give us a call if there is anything you might like to know.
If you’ve decided we’re the right pharmacy agency for you, fantastic, we can’t wait to have you on board! Click this little link here to start the registration process!
