Locum scheme create all-win situation

Locum Office was established last December as a platform to manage the employment of potential healthcare talents on a part-time basis. Enjoying flexibility in selecting working venue and timeslot, applicants can also save time by submitting one application to Locum Office instead of separately to individual hospitals. Current openings include Enrolled Nurse (General), Registered Nurse (General), Non-specialist Doctor and Specialist Doctor.

“Colleagues often reflect to us that they want more time to rest or attend training. We hope the locum scheme can relieve manpower pressure of full-time staff, so that our staff can enjoy more rest time and achieve work-life balance,” says Dr Pang Fei-chau, Head of Human Resources at HA Head Office. It is also hoped that the scheme can rapidly increase manpower in public hospitals to support service surges and emergencies.

The scheme meets the needs of applicants, full-time staff and hospitals, and allows flexibility for applicants and hospitals. Public hospitals can centrally place a job advertisement on the platform, which at the same time facilitates applicants to select the suitable timeslot, hospital and department. Locum Office will then match the available part-time position for qualified applicants. After successful matching, applicants need to receive online training before work, such as infection control. Departments will provide feedback regarding the locum staff to Locum Office for reference in future matching.

Implemented for several months, the scheme has received favourable responses. There are 275 successful matches up to 5 July this year and they are now serving in seven clusters. Regarding staff’s concerns about the qualification of locum employees, Dr Pang says that over 70% of them have worked in HA before and believes that they are acquainted with HA culture and workstyle of clinical departments. In the future, the scheme may be extended to allied health and supporting staff. Locum Office will simplify and enhance the recruitment process by improving the recruitment method, procedures, salary scale and computer systems.

Applicants can visit the website for details. Hospitals interested in recruiting part-time staff can contact Locum Office at 2300 7410 or Cluster Human Resources Division, or email to recruitment@ha.org.hk.

Dr Sophia Sharon Lamb
Locum Specialist Doctor

“After completing the licensing exams and internship here, I worked as a full-time doctor in Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) for six years, I then did overseas voluntary NGO work. I returned to Hong Kong during the winter surge periods, once to Intensive Care Unit of QMH and once to the Department of Chest Medicine of Grantham Hospital. I am now serving at Bradbury Hospice under the locum scheme, working mainly in the specialist out-patient clinics and paying home visits to palliative care patients. Joining the scheme allows me time to continue voluntary work in less developed countries. The locum scheme is flexible. I can arrange with the department on working days and hours. As a result, I can stay connected to the healthcare field, with ongoing learning opportunities, while also having the spare time to do other things too.”

Quinny Cheung
Locum Registered Nurse (General)

“I am working at the Medicine and Geriatrics Department of Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH). Because of personal reason, I can only work night shift from 9pm to 7am the next morning. Before joining the scheme, I was a full-time nurse at TMH, taking care of patients at isolation wards. At first, I planned to switch to part-time, but then I join the locum scheme instead after realising its flexibility in working hours.”

Eileen Cheung
Locum Enrolled Nurse (General)

“I worked in operation theatre of private hospital after graduation. I am currently taking a registered nurse programme and hope to work in HA in the future. The scheme can meet my needs because the flexible working hours facilitate my study. At the same time, I can gain experience of working in public hospital and better understand the work culture here, which are helpful when I apply for a full-time job in HA. Now I work at the Ambulatory Surgery Centre of Tseung Kwan O Hospital, providing pre-operation and post-operation care to patients.”

Wong Mak-chiu
Department Operations Manager, Clinical Oncology and Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Tuen Mun Hospital

“A locum Enrolled Nurse (General) joins our ward. She adapts to the job easily because she has been an HA staff before. The scheme attracts experienced former colleagues to return to HA and help maintain good service standard. On hospital operation, we adjust the shift arrangement to ease manpower shortage. The duty hours for locum staff are 7am to 11am for AM shift; 5pm to 9pm for PM shift; and 9pm to 7am for night shift because these periods are the peak hours of the ward.”