2021 was a very strange year, with a great deal of uncertainty, fear and disruption affecting everyone in one way or another. The medical and healthcare industries have certainly seen their fair share of upheaval, but the good news is that as we move into 2022 things are starting to look up, particularly for locum doctors.

Following the COVID pandemic there was a decrease in demand for locum doctors, due to the restrictions and uncertainty caused especially around travelling and having access to travel interstate. Many hospitals had to cancel pre-planned travel for all their full time doctors, and the national travel restrictions made access to remote areas even more restricted. This meant that recruitment positions for locum works in such locations were temporarily unviable or unheard of as no one was moving around the country.

Usually, locum doctors would have ample access to various working opportunities across the country, both in remote locations and covering unusual shifts, filling gaps left by permanent doctors who are sick or workers on annual leave. 

Throughout the pandemic, we worked hard to retain and build our relationships with each of our health service partners, ensuring they remained as strong as ever. Many of these health providers provide us with exclusive access to job openings when they arise, and maintaining a high level of mutual trust allows us to give our doctors access to the newest locum positions as they become available and fill them quickly and easily for the hospitals. 

We’ve been very fortunate that while most companies have been faced with the prospect of cutting staff numbers, at Jon & Jon we have been very lucky that we have been able to build on our capabilities and offerings by hiring a range of new staff and providing further development for our senior consultants. This is to ensure that we’re in the best position to match our doctors with new locum positions as soon as possible.

As we enter 2022 the majority of restrictions throughout Australia are beginning to lift, which will help enormously in the process of restoring business as usual for many industries, including for locum workers. Now interstate borders are relaxing and traveling throughout Australia begins to return to normal, locum work for doctors is expected to rise again. 

We are very ready to see this upward trend of opportunities for locum workers increase, and welcome back our doctors to take up their next locum position. Additionally, many health services and medical employers have begun to relax their leave policies, meaning that locum doctors are required to cover permanent doctors who are now able to take time off.

Along with embracing these evolving changes in the medical industry, moving forward there may also be new opportunities for general medical doctors across Australia to partake in roles such as telehealth consultations, a new initiative introduced by the government during the pandemic to enable those who were in quarantine or highly vulnerable to COVID to access essential healthcare services in a safe and contact free method. 

As expected, specialised roles are still in high demand, including emergency medicine and psychiatry locum positions. There will also be increased availability of locum positions in New South Wales and Queensland in particular as the restrictions ease and infection rates decrease. Once again locum doctors and healthcare workers across Australia will be able to enjoy the enviable work-life balance, competitive pay rates and exciting opportunities they are used to.