Anyone who has worked in temporary recruitment knows that many sectors of healthcare are heavily supported by temporary staff. Whether it’s to strengthen the ranks for flu season, or to provide specialist help on a certain ward, all hospitals and clinics need temporary workers.
We’ve talked a lot about temporary workers for healthcare in the past, and work with multiple agencies who specialise in providing them. However, one facet of healthcare we haven’t gone into is dental care.
Temporary dental staff are just as important as ever, so let’s give them some time in the spotlight, and explain why providing them as an agency will give you an edge.
What is Dental Care?
Although we all dread that trip to the dentist, there’s no denying that they do important work. From a quick cleaning, to tooth removal, or a new set of dentures or braces, there’s a lot that you can only get from a professional dentist or dental clinic.
There are a number of temporary roles within dental care:
- Dentists – Who can provide a range of services or be a specialist such as an orthodontist
- Dental Nurses – Who support dentists in their roles
- Hygienists – Who clean our teeth and educate about oral health
- Receptionists – Who may have experience in other sectors but have the necessary skills for a dental clinic’s front desk
Temporary Workers for Dental Care
Dentists who work in a temporary capacity are known as Locum Dentists, and will have fixed or flexible contracts depending on how they choose to work. Instead of spending their careers in one clinic or dental surgery, they travel from place to place whenever they are needed or at times that suits them.
It’s the same for nurses and hygienists. They could be in one role for years, or just a few months while they cover for absence or maternity leave.
The benefits of working on a temporary basis enable a better work life balance, or simply wants to be more selective on when they work. For example, if someone is still in education, they can gain valuable experience working as a nurse or hygienist as long as they have the required experience and/or qualifications.
This is also incredibly important for the industry as a whole. If permanent staff is unavailable, a surgery owner can call in a temporary worker to fill the vacancy. The one they choose will have all the necessary skills and qualifications to pick up where permanent staff leave off, and will be ready or waiting to jump in at short notice. This enables a clinic or surgery to continue running smoothly and support its clients.
But if you do need to find an extra pair of hands in a hurry, what’s the best way to go about it?
How to Find Temporary Dental Staff
Unsurprisingly, the best way to find a temporary dentist or dental worker is via an agency. Although there are a few free agents out there, healthcare workers often benefit more by being in an agency’s database. Not only do they get more reliable payments, with new legislation supporting them, but they are more likely to find roles that suit them.
This is great for the agency too. Dental workers are always in high demand, so if your agency provides them for clients, that’s an easy way to become a major figure in the very competitive recruitment industry.
Having a niche will make you more appealing to clients. Instead of trying to be an agency who offers workers for all industries, if you focus on one in particular, the quality of temporary workers you attract will be higher, and the clients will come in droves.
However, pivoting from one niche to another isn’t ideal, as you’ll essentially be starting from scratch, with only recognition backing you up. If you’re providing temporary workers for dentists, but aren’t growing at a fast enough rate, maybe it’s time to consider expanding into other areas of healthcare.
Recruitment Funding for UK-Based Agencies
No matter how you intend to grow your agency, you need the right support.
If you choose to work with us, you’ll have access to our all-in-one service that includes:
All for one single fee! There are no tiers and no hidden payments. And that’s not even the best part.
Unlike with other recruitment funding providers, you’ll have just two points of contact throughout the majority of your time with us. Once your onboarding manager has stepped away, you’ll work with a payroll account manager who will ensure that all your workers are paid on time, every time.
Then there’s your dedicated credit controller. They will keep a close eye on your clients’ credit limits, adjusting them whenever necessary so that clients’ financial issues never affect your business.
Both parties will keep you in the loop with regular updates, and will even check in to talk about upcoming changes to legislation that could affect your agency, just to make sure you don’t need any pointers. Between these important calls will be plenty of informal chats to see how things are going and check if we can do anything better for you or your clients. We value the human touch, and going the extra mile is what we do best.
If you’re a new agency looking to explore the opportunities in temporary dental care, or an established agency who is considering a change, we’re here to help. Feel free to get in touch with any questions, or check out our other blogs to find out more about what we do.
