The absence of your staff for any significant amount of time can put a real strain on your practice. If you are unprepared for this event, it can also have a big impact on your ability to deliver the necessary care to your patients.

Optician locum insurance provides your practice with financial support by paying an agreed amount if you, or any member of your team, are unable to work due to injury or illness. It can be used to hire a locum who can stand in temporarily and help things run smoothly.

While locum insurance applies broadly to various types of practices, such as vets, dentists, GPs, and pharmacists, you can take out cover that especially designed for optometrists. Based on our many years of experience at Locum Insurance, we’ve outlined the essential things you need to know about when looking for optician locum insurance.

Essential Benefits of Locum Insurance for Optometrists

While many healthcare professionals will have some form of insurance to cover the loss of personal earnings due to sickness or injury, you also need to cover various business costs of running your practice. This can include rent, loans, or finance payments for medical equipment, salaries, and general overheads that come with running any businesses.

If you can make these payments is disrupted in any way by the absence of you or any of your team, then locum insurance can help to cover the cost of running. This will mean your practice is protected regardless of the health of your core team.

Key Features of Locum Insurance for Optometrists

• Funds are paid out when insured team members are sick or injured
• Can be used to hire a locum
• Can be used in any way to support the running of the practice
• Different premiums with varying costs can be chosen depending on the needs of your practice
• Specific policies can be taken out to cover different members of staff

Why Do You Need Locum Insurance?

Sickness absence rates in the UK have been rising within the care and medical sector. For example, the NHS registers much higher staff sickness rates than other parts of the economy. Increasingly, we’re seeing individuals in many medical professions put under a considerable amount of strain as a result of high patient numbers and finite resources.

Across the UK, more and more cases of anxiety, stress, depression and other mental health issues have risen causing increased rates of absences. While you can support people’s health on an individual practice level, with appropriate working conditions and support for your team, sometimes these absences are impossible to avoid.

What Does Locum Insurance for Opticians Cover?

Locum insurance packages allow practices to tailor the type of cover required to meet the financial implications of several eventualities caused by staff absences. The specifics of this can vary depending on your insurance provider, but comprehensive cover for your practice can include the following for insured members of your team.

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

Finding Effective Cover

Every practice is different. Choosing a policy that suits your individual needs is important for making sure you’re paying only what is necessary to get the level of protection you require to keep your practice running smoothly.

It is important that you consider how your practice copes with staff absence and make sure you plan for worst case scenarios, such as extremely busy periods of the year where your resources might already be spread thinly.

The cost of your policy can vary depending on a number of factors, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Locum Insurance to explore what works best for your practice. We’ll happily outline your options and help you find the most suitable insurance policy for your needs.