The absence of your staff for any significant amount of time can put a great deal of strain on your systems and processes. If your practice is unprepared, it will also have a big impact on the level of care you are able to deliver to your patients. 

Obviously, this is something that should be managed and avoided where possible, to ensure you are able to achieve continuity if any members of your staff are absent for whatever reason. 

Just like locum insurance for other medical facilities and organizations, optician locum insurance provides your practice with financial support by paying an agreed amount to you if someone in your team is unable to work due to an illness or injury. It may also cover a number of other reasons for absence, depending on your specific policy.

Essential Benefits 

It’s normal that many health professionals and organization managers will have some form of insurance to cover the loss of personal earnings due to sickness or illnesses, however, it is also important to cover the businesses costs of these illnesses. 

This means taking out locum insurance that will release funding to you so that you can either hire a locum to fill the staff shortage, or use the money elsewhere to support the internal changes that must happen to cover for any absent individuals. This will mean your practice is protected regardless of the health of your core team. 

Key Features of Locum Insurance for Opticians

• Funds are paid out when insured team members are absent due to sickness or injury 
• Money can be used to hire short-term locum
• Money can be used to support internal processes, such as paying overtime to existing staff 
• Policies can include various activation requirements and periods depending on the needs of your practice
• Individual policies can be taken out to only cover important staff members with specialized skills if necessary

What Does Locum Insurance Cover?

Opticians locum insurance packages come in many different shapes and sizes. Some offer only basic cover for serious absences due to long-term illnesses, while some will be more unique and tailored to an organization. 

For example, some policies will be activated only after 1-2 weeks of staff absence, while others will be immediately activated, releasing funds to you straight away. 

The specifics will always vary depending on your insurance provider, however, some of the most common components of locum insurance cover include: 

• Medical and hospital expenses
• Illnesses (short and long-term)
• Jury service
• Accidents and injury 
• Maternity leave 

As you can see, there are a number of different reasons you might need locum insurance to offer your practice some financial support when you are suffering from staff absences. 

Do I Need Locum Insurance?

Absence rates are on the rise in the UK, and throughout the world. An increasing demand on healthcare and staff shortages is also a noticeable trend over the last decade, with many sectors crying out for more skilled practitioners. 

This is no different for the world of opticians where higher staff sickness rates have been recorded, often due to stress and mental health reasons. This places organizations under greater pressure with increasing workloads and higher patient numbers, without additional resources.

While you can do your best to support the health of your staff, people are always going to get sick and it’s crucial that you have a contingency plan in place. Consider how your practice and its individual members cope with staff absences and additional strain, and build a strategy around this with an appropriate level of locum insurance cover for opticians. 

Some larger practices might have some additional resourcing and staff availability to cover absences internally in the short-term, however, smaller practices will often need immediate support from locums to keep up with patient appointments. 

Final Considerations 

Every practice should choose a policy that suits its individual needs. And there’s no reason to pay more than necessary for the kind of cover components you need.  The cost of your policy will vary depending on a number of factors, and if you need help figuring out what’s right for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Approachable Locum Insurance to explore your options.