ArticleBMJ quality & safety2024
Locum doctor working and quality and safety: a qualitative study in English primary and secondary care.
Article in BMJ quality & safety, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Motivations and challenges experienced among locums working in Norwegian rural general practice: a reflexive thematic analysis.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Understaffing and overprescribing: a register study on the role of locum physicians in antibiotic prescribing patterns in primary care in Northern Sweden.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Locum doctor working: A qualitative exploration of the implications for learning and professional development.Medical education · 2026Article
- Consultations with locum doctors in UK general practice: longitudinal analysis of electronic health records.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Article
- Investigating inequality in Advanced Life Support courses: a retrospective, single-centre, survey-based pilot study.Resuscitation plus · 2026Article
- Dispatch of locum doctors to rural clinics on remote islands in Japan.Journal of rural medicine : JRM · 2026Article
- Article
- A qualitative exploration of community pharmacist views on providing a mental health and well-being intervention for long-term condition patients.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- 'None of Them Know Me': A Qualitative Study of the Implications of Locum Doctor Working for Patient Experience.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe use of temporary doctors, known as locums, has been common practice for managing staffing shortages and maintaining service delivery internationally. However, there has been little empirical research on the implications of locum working for quality and safety. This study aimed to investigate the implications of locum working for quality and safety.
methodsQualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 130 participants, including locums, patients, permanently employed doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals with governance and recruitment responsibilities for locums across primary and secondary healthcare organisations in the English NHS. Data were collected between March 2021 and April 2022. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and abductive analysis.
resultsParticipants described the implications of locum working for quality and safety across five themes: (1) 'familiarity' with an organisation and its patients and staff was essential to delivering safe care; (2) 'balance and stability' of services reliant on locums were seen as at risk of destabilisation and lacking leadership for quality improvement; (3) 'discrimination and exclusion' experienced by locums had negative implications for morale, retention and patient outcomes; (4) 'defensive practice' by locums as a result of perceptions of increased vulnerability and decreased support; (5) clinical governance arrangements, which often did not adequately cover locum doctors.
conclusionLocum working and how locums were integrated into organisations posed some significant challenges and opportunities for patient safety and quality of care. Organisations should take stock of how they work with the locum workforce to improve not only quality and safety but also locum experience and retention.
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