How to become a locum Pharmacist:

Locum work is a handy means to extra pocket money for many pharmacists. For some, however, it can be an exciting career — either temporarily or permanently.

Which traits will make you more likely to succeed? You must be organized, always try to make a good impression and be prepared to go above and beyond what other locums are doing to be successful. It’s also important to keep an accurate log to make sure you don’t double book yourself. The last thing you want to do is cancel work.

This more flexible arrangement means that, to a certain extent, you can choose when, where and for how long you work - and subsequently, how much holiday you can take! You are also free from internal politics and can often find yourself in situations where you are learning new things and gaining valuable experience of different pharmacy environments while you work. There is also the obvious benefit of increasing your take home pay.

What do you do as a Locum Pharmacist?

As a pharmacist, if you are offered a locum position, you usually need to take responsibility of the whole

pharmacy.

• You need to have some computer knowledge, as most patients buy their medication using a

medical aid that you need to work out on the system.

• You need to be very patient as there will be a great number of patients.

• You sometimes need to council the patients if needed.

• You should know your generics very well, as most of the patients ask for low-priced

medications.

• You are supposed to manage your staff and balance the amount of time you spend on each

patient.

• Most importantly you need to learn software, such as UNISOLVE and PROPHARM, which most of

the private pharmacies in South Africa work on. The Government Sector is currently

implementing the JAC System. Not all of the Government Clinics are making use of the system

yet and still make use of the manual system.

• You obviously need to have good communication skills, as some of the patients have less

patience.

On the Day of your Locum Shift:

Make sure you are on time and look presentable. Locums turning up late for duty is one of the most common complaints from pharmacy managers. Always plan where you are going in advance. A Health Staff (Pty) Ltd consultant will make sure that the locum is confirmed and reminded of their shifts, as well as to make sure that all the necessary directions to the Institution are sorted before the shifts starts.

Once you’re there, get stuck in; don’t just sit in the back and check prescriptions. Serve on the counter, help to unpack the delivery, counsel patients and deliver as many services as you can — everything that a regular pharmacist would do. After all, you’re being paid to be a pharmacist, not to read a magazine.

Also, try to determine quickly how each pharmacy does ‘the little things’ — how they take payments, or how they bag up and store prescriptions for collection. The quicker you can slot into a pharmacy’s normal way of working, the easier you will make it for the support staff.

locum to visit the Institution beforehand to see how the Pharmacy’s day to day schedule is working and to meet with the Pharmacy Manager. It will put the locum more at ease

on the day of the first shift.

Before you finish, make sure you tie up any loose ends or write a clear handover for the following day’s pharmacist. At the end of the day, pharmacy is a relatively small world and managers will tell other managers about any good experience they had.

Top Tips:

• Get accredited to deliver services • Never be late • Look professional • “Get stuck in” and help the support staff • Deliver as many services as possible • Visit the pharmacy in advance if possible and learn the dispensing system • Leave a handover

Professional Indemnity Insurance Needed:

Make sure that all your work, or work that you are responsible for, is covered by appropriate professional indemnity cover. This insurance cover is designed to protect against claims made by a patient if mistakes are made or a locum is found to be negligent in some or all of the services they provide.

With a claims-made policy, if you have allowed your policy to lapse by the time the claim is made, even if you were insured at the time of the event, you will not be covered. This is an important point to consider if you are going to take a career break and will be letting your insurance lapse.

Even if your employer’s insurance covers you, it is worth bearing in mind that in the event of a conflict of interest between you and your employer, the insurance may actually provide cover for the employer rather than yourself.

Registration with South African Pharmacy Council:

Make sure your registration with the South African Pharmacy Council are always valid. Your annual fees must always be paid on time or you will be removed from the South African Pharmacy Council. Once this happened, you will not be allowed to dispense in any Pharmacy.

Pharmacist Assistants:

Pharmacist’s assistants, (PAs) have undergone formal basic and post-basic training and who are registered with the South African Pharmacy Council. Pharmacist Assistants work under close supervision of the pharmacist and are trained to advise the public on all self-medication issues. They are allowed to dispense schedule 0-2 medicines, or so-called over the counter preparations in South Africa.

This more flexible arrangement means that, to a certain extent, you can choose when, where and for how long you work - and subsequently, how much holiday you can take! You are also free from internal politics and can often find yourself in situations where you are learning new things and gaining valuable experience of different pharmacy environments while you work. There is also the obvious benefit of increasing your take home pay. To become a locum when you have holidays are the perfect opportunity!

Health Staff will recommend the

• Cape Peninsula University of Technology • Comficor Professional Development (Pty) Ltd • Community Development Unit • Health Science Academy (Pty)Ltd. • Insight Medicine Management • Management Sciences for Health/Rational Pharmaceutical Management • Pharmacy Education International CC • Pharmacy Training and Development Project • Pharmcore (Pty) Ltd • PM & A ( trading as Pharmacy Healthcare Academy) • Quad Pharmaceutica CC • S Buys Training and Development Academy (Pty) Ltd • Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA) • North-West University • Rhodes University • University of KwaZulu-Natal • University of Limpopo • Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University • University of the Western Cape • University of the Witwatersrand • Medical University of SA / Tshwane University of Technology • University of Pretoria

Difference between Pharmacist Assistants:

Learner Basic Assistant

A learner Basic Assistant requires a tutor and works under direct personal supervision by a Pharmacist. You may not sell or dispense any medication. Assist with ordering of stock validated by a Pharmacist and administration duties as specified by the Responsible Pharmacist. A Learner Basic Assistant is registered under a specific tutor and Pharmacy and therefore is not allowed to do locum work.

Qualified Basic/2nd Year Pharmacy Student:

A qualified Basic Assistant no longer requires a tutor, but still works under direct personal supervision of a Pharmacist. He/She may not sell or dispense any medication. Assists with ordering of stock validated by a Pharmacist and administration duties as specified by the Responsible Pharmacist. A Qualified Basic Assistant needs further qualifications before signing up for locum work.

Learner Post Basic Assistant:

A learner Post Basic requires a tutor and works under direct personal supervision of a Pharmacist. He/She is now allowed to sell and dispense Schedule 1 and 2 medications. Assists with ordering of stock validated by a Pharmacist and administration duties as specified by the Responsible Pharmacist. Pharmacist on duty always have to check and sign a prescription before a learner Post Basic Assistant can hand over medication to the patient. A Learner Post Basic Assistant is registered under a specific tutor and Pharmacy and therefore is not allowed to do locum work.

Qualified Post Basic Assistant/3rd and 4th Year Pharmacy Student:

A qualified Post Basic Assistant no longer requires a tutor, but still works under personal supervision of a Pharmacist. He/She is allowed to sell and dispense Schedule 1 and 2 medicine. Assists with the ordering of stock validated by a Pharmacist and administration duties as specified by the Responsible Pharmacist. The Pharmacist on duty always has to check and sign a prescription before the medication may be handed over to the patient. A qualified Post Basic Assistant is allowed to locum at any facility.

The following training facilities can help you to become a Pharmacist Assistant:

• ARV Access for Africa (Pty) Ltd • Black IQ

When deciding on becoming a locum in your free time, make sure that you have gained enough experience in the different sectors. It’s to your advance if you can work in more than 1 Sector. If you are only comfortable in the Private Sector, Health Staff will make sure you are placed only in the Private Sector.

To be successful as a locum, you have to be 100% comfortable and experienced enough to work at a facility. What most locums forget, is that when you are booked for a shift, you have to be ready to start working when you step foot in the Facility. There is no time for training on the system, you should have the necessary skills for that already. To make this easy for yourself, take the time and get some training at any pharmacy in the specific sector you are not comfortable with before informing the Agency to contact you for locum shifts.

Always make sure you are registered with the South African Pharmacy Council and your annual fees are paid on time.

When using Health Staff, we will make sure that your work as a locum is as easy, enjoyable and rewarding as possible.

A strong and established relationship has been built between Health Staff (Pty) Ltd and its various Institutions, which is why Health Staff is the preferred way of getting locum work.

Health Staff offers a Holistic Locum and Medical Recruitment solution. Please follow us on social media and keep updated with all our local and national locum and permanent vacancies.

When becoming a locum:

Phone:+27 (0)21 913 9761Fax:+27 (0)86 665 2294Email: info@healthstaff.co.za

Don’t hesitate to reach out!

At Health Staff, we believe anything’s possible. That any individual or organisation can be exceptional and change the world for the better.

Whether you are an employer or a medical professional, contact us today and experience the benefits of dealing with one of the finest medical recruitment

agencies in South Africa.