There is no single best locum app for every UK doctor. A GP building repeat relationships with practices needs a different arrangement from a registrar joining a hospital bank or a consultant seeking a defined short-term placement.
The useful way to navigate the market is by type of work and engagement, not by a list of logos. First establish what you are qualified and available to do. Then choose the smallest set of platforms that helps you access that work and administer it properly.
This guide reviews publicly described services on 18 October 2026. Availability, onboarding and rates must be checked for the actual opportunity; national platform reach is not a promise of local shifts.
GP marketplace work: consider Lantum
Lantum provides a GP marketplace alongside broader workforce products. It is relevant to GPs investigating digitally organised flexible sessions, but the wider company's products should not be assumed to operate as an open marketplace for every profession.
The first evaluation is local. Search the places and session types you can realistically cover, then inspect workload and terms. A long list of notifications is not useful if most work requires an impractical commute or conflicts with existing commitments.
Before accepting, establish whether the session includes duty work, visits, supervision or administration beyond the consultation list. Retain the agreed description. The platform is most useful when it makes a suitable agreement easier to form, not when it encourages booking before the responsibilities are understood.
Direct GP relationships: consider LocumDeck
NASGP LocumDeck is relevant to organising sessional GP work and direct practice relationships. Its usefulness may include keeping availability, terms and administration together rather than managing them through separate messages.
A GP with several repeat practices may value organisation more than discovery. In that situation, the right question is whether the tool reduces diary errors, invoice delays and repeated negotiation. An additional marketplace is not always the missing component.
Check membership arrangements locally. Some funded regional services exist, but their eligibility conditions should not be generalised nationally. A programme associated with one area does not establish what a GP elsewhere will pay or what practices they can access.
Hospital bank work: follow the trust's platform
Patchwork and Locum's Nest are relevant to digital workforce arrangements used by participating organisations. Your first step should be the hospital's bank or medical staffing team, which can explain the available route and local approval requirements.
Do not create the impression that every doctor can sign into every bank merely because the same brand is used. Grade approval, identity checks, induction and clinical access remain practical requirements. Collaborative arrangements may simplify some steps without eliminating all local checks.
Locum's Nest's corporate context is also worth keeping current: Aya Healthcare acquired it in June 2025. That does not establish a change in an individual trust's rates or the doctor's contract; use the local documents for those questions.
Broader hospital placements: assess Doctors Direct
Doctors Direct, part of NHS Professionals, offers another route to hospital locum opportunities. It is useful to investigate when you want placement support beyond a familiar internal bank, provided your experience and availability fit the roles offered.
For any placement, ask who engages and pays you, which organisation supervises the clinical work, how timesheets are approved and whether the position is a single shift or a longer commitment. A clear role description is more valuable than a generic promise of flexibility.
Compare a proposed placement with direct bank work on the same basis. Include travel, accommodation where relevant, onboarding, administrative time and the remuneration components actually offered. Do not assume that one category always pays more.
Conventional agencies still require a fair comparison
A specialist medical recruitment agency may provide access to a role or support that a self-service platform does not. Conversely, a digital route or direct relationship may reduce communication steps for an established local arrangement.
The right assessment is contractual and practical rather than ideological. Identify the agency or intermediary's role, the payer, cancellation terms, restrictions on direct engagement and any deductions. Ask for written details before completing extensive onboarding for an unspecified opportunity.
An attractive advertised rate does not prove that a role is available to you or that the quoted amount will be your final gross payment. Verify the specific assignment and avoid relying on promotional messages as evidence of predictable monthly income.
Separate finding work from organising money
Locum discovery and locum administration are not identical functions. Locum Organiser and My Locum Manager describe tools for diaries, invoicing and GP pension-related administration. They may be relevant even when work is obtained directly.
Choose one clear record of completed sessions and outstanding payments. Multiple tools can create ambiguity about which invoice was sent, which version of a form is current or whether a session has been marked paid in only one place.
Software can populate a document without establishing that the underlying work is eligible for a particular tax or pension treatment. Retain professional oversight and use the relevant official guidance when the engagement is unusual.
Match the combination to your career stage
A newly qualified GP might begin with one local discovery route, a reliable administrative system and a small number of supportive practices. An established GP may obtain greater value from repeat bookings and better terms than from more notifications.
A hospital doctor may start with their own bank and one additional approved organisation. A consultant seeking a longer placement should focus on the clinical scope, facilities and follow-up responsibilities rather than treating it as an interchangeable shift.
These are proposed starting configurations, not universal prescriptions. Review the arrangement after a month of real use and remove accounts that do not produce suitable opportunities or worthwhile administration savings.
Evaluate the true return on an extra session
Use a simple calculation: receipts minus directly attributable costs, divided by all committed time. Keep tax, pension and employment benefits visible as separate considerations rather than pretending that gross hourly amounts are directly comparable across every engagement.
Also record qualitative factors: reliable access, helpful colleagues, clear handover and realistic workload. A practice or hospital that repeatedly creates avoidable uncertainty may be less attractive than its rate suggests.
For preparation and ongoing learning, iatroX's locum GP toolkit places clinical resources alongside practical administration. The aim is a sustainable professional setup. The best app is the one that helps you do appropriate work reliably, not the one that encourages the highest number of shifts.
Related reading: Lantum vs NASGP LocumDeck and hospital bank and placement platforms.
FAQs
What is the best locum app for a GP?
Lantum and NASGP LocumDeck are sensible services to evaluate, but local suitable work, existing relationships, fees and administrative needs should determine the choice. There is no verified universal winner.
What is the best platform for hospital doctors?
Start with the systems used by hospitals where you can work. Patchwork, Locum's Nest and Doctors Direct can be relevant in different arrangements; registration and access are not identical across organisations.
Do I need separate software for invoices and pensions?
Possibly, depending on how work is obtained and what your booking system already provides. Avoid duplication, check eligibility before using pension forms and maintain one accurate record of completed and paid sessions.
Build a more complete sessional-work setup with the iatroX locum GP toolkit.