The "Uberisation" of Healthcare: Are Locum Apps Replacing Traditional Agencies?

Locumr
3 days ago
4 min read

The pharmacy staffing landscape is facing a perfect storm. With 64% of community pharmacies in 2025 reporting staff shortages and 21% forced to close temporarily during the year due to a lack of pharmacists, the pressure to find coverage is unprecedented.

For decades, pharmacy owners relied on traditional agencies to fill these gaps. However, a new wave of app-based platforms is disrupting this established model, promising to cut costs and streamline booking in an industry where margins are razor-thin. This begs the question: are these apps spelling the end for traditional pharmacy recruitment agencies?

The Traditional Agency Model: The "Middleman" Tax

Traditional agencies (such as CPL, Team Locum, or regional specialists) have long been the safety net for independent pharmacies and large multiples alike. They operate on a high-touch, relationship-based model.

Their value has historically been:

Emergency Cover: The ability to find a pharmacist at 6:00 AM when the regular manager calls in sick.
Compliance Safety: Manually checking GPhC (UK) or State Board (US) registrations and indemnity insurance.
The "Spread": Agencies charge a significant margin on top of the pharmacist's hourly rate. In a 2025 survey, half of pharmacy businesses labeled these staffing costs "unsustainable."

The Friction Point: The traditional model is slow and expensive. Relying on phone calls and texts to fill a shift is inefficient when a patient is waiting for a prescription. Furthermore, with the rise of "Pharmacy First" (UK) and expanded clinical services (US/Canada), the need for specific accreditations (e.g., flu jab certified, independent prescriber) adds a layer of complexity that manual spreadsheets struggle to handle.

The Digital Disruptor: Enter the "Zen" Era

Digital platforms are slicing through these inefficiencies by connecting locums directly with pharmacies. This sector is attracting serious venture capital, signaling a permanent shift in how pharmacists find work.

Zen Locum: A standout UK player, its parent company (Zen Educate) raised $37 million in Series B funding in 2024. Their model claims to save employers 20–30% on agency fees by using algorithms rather than recruiters to match staff.
Locate a Locum: Processing over 200,000 shifts annually, this platform has become a data powerhouse, publishing the authoritative "Pharmacy Locum Rates Report." It allows large chains to manage their workforce digitally, effectively bypassing external agencies.
ShiftPosts: A major player in the US and Canadian markets, positioning itself as the "Uber for Pharmacy." It offers instant matching and transparent pay, specifically targeting the "relief pharmacist" market.
Lopic & Workflare: These platforms push a "direct booking" model, often charging a fixed monthly software fee (e.g., £29.99/mo) rather than a daily commission, drastically undercutting the traditional agency commission model.

The "App" Advantage:

Smart Credentialing: Apps allow pharmacists to upload documents (DBS checks, vaccination training, indemnity) once. The app then automatically filters shifts based on whether the locum is qualified to deliver specific services like Hypertension Case-Finding or Flu Jabs.
Instant Payments: Platforms like ShiftPosts leverage fintech to offer payment within 48 hours, a massive draw for locums used to waiting 30+ days for agency invoices.
Transparency: Locums can see the exact rate, location, and even the PMR system (e.g., ProScript, Titan) used by the pharmacy before accepting the shift.

Not So Fast: The Reality Check

Despite the tech hype, the transition hasn't been seamless. A 2025 survey by the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) revealed a starker reality: 69% of locums reported seeing fewer shifts available compared to the previous year.

Why the disconnect?

Closures: As funding cuts force pharmacies to close or reduce hours, the pool of available shifts shrinks, regardless of whether you use an app or an agency.
The "Race to the Bottom": Some locums argue that apps can commoditise the profession, encouraging a bidding war that drives down hourly rates in saturated areas (like London or major US metros), while "pharmacy deserts" (like rural Yorkshire or the Midwest) still struggle to find anyone.
Algorithm Bias: Unlike a human recruiter who knows a pharmacist's personality, an app might penalise a locum for a last-minute cancellation due to a genuine emergency, affecting their "score" and future shift visibility.

A Shifting Landscape: The Rise of "Internal Banks"

Are agencies obsolete? Not quite. But the biggest threat to agencies might not be public apps like Zen Locum—it might be the pharmacies themselves.

Large multiples (like Boots, Lloyds successors, or CVS) are increasingly adopting "white-label" technology to build their own Internal Staff Banks.

Instead of calling an agency or using a public app, they use software (often provided by tech firms like Patchwork Health or Locate a Locum) to broadcast shifts first to their own employees who want overtime, then to a vetted pool of direct locums.
External agencies are now relegated to a "tier 3" option—only called when absolutely no one else picks up the shift.

The Future: Clinical Matching & Hybrid Staffing

The future of pharmacy staffing is hybrid, driven by the expanding clinical role of the pharmacist.

Commoditised Shifts: Standard dispensing shifts will move almost entirely to apps. Speed and low cost will win here.
Specialised Clinical Roles: As pharmacists take on GP-style work (prescribing, chronic condition management), the "human touch" of an agency may still be needed to vet high-level candidates for long-term placements or complex rural assignments.

Ultimately, the rise of locum apps is forcing the industry to modernise. For the pharmacy owner, it offers a lifeline against rising costs. For the locum pharmacist, it offers freedom and faster pay—but requires them to be more proactive in managing their own "digital reputation" in a crowded marketplace.