Career guide
Step-by-step guide to becoming a locum optometrist in the UK: GOC registration, NHS Performer Number, MECS accreditation, and Independent Prescribing.
A locum optometrist covers clinical work on a session-by-session basis for the organisations that need them, as a self-employed professional rather than a salaried employee. This guide walks through everything you need to do to start, in order, and the common pitfalls that catch people in their first year.
Guide | 7 steps
You need GOC registration as an Optometrist after your Pre-Registration year and OSCE. Re-register annually. The GOC moved from the old CET scheme to MyCPD: 36 CPD points over a 3-year cycle (the current cycle runs 2025 to 2027), across a mix of interactive, peer, and personal learning. Therapeutic Optometrists (specialty register) need a further 18 specialty points on top of the standard 36.
In England, General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) work requires a Performer Number via Primary Care Support England (PCSE) – budget 4–10 weeks. Scotland uses eOphthalmic, Wales and NI separate arrangements. Without this you cannot claim NHS sight tests.
AOP membership includes £10M indemnity cover and is the dominant choice for locum optometrists. College of Optometrists membership is separate. Corporate employers may provide indemnity for their own work but individual cover protects you for scope outside their policies and for domiciliary / private work.
Most of the uplift beyond core sight tests comes from LOCSU-accredited enhanced services: MECS (Minor Eye Conditions), glaucoma repeat readings, pre- and post-op cataract follow-up. These each require a specific accreditation course plus listing on the local ICB contract. MECS sessions pay £60–£120 on top of sight-test fees.
IP qualification is £3,000–£5,000 and takes 6–12 months. It unlocks prescribing at practices running IP clinics and adds £50–£100/day to locum rate. Demand is rising; not yet standard, but increasingly expected at progressive independents.
Optilocum, OLA (Optometry Locum Alliance), LocumBlue, and AOP Jobs are the main platforms. Specsavers, Boots Opticians, Vision Express, and OutsideClinic (domiciliary) all run their own locum desks directly. Rural midweek rates have softened; weekends and short notice hold premium.
Optometry locuming is one of the most established genuinely self-employed markets in UK healthcare – you bring independent clinical judgement and move between practices. But since April 2021 private-sector IR35 reform, corporates are responsible for status determinations. Specsavers and Boots often move extended bookings to umbrella / PAYE. Ltd Co is fine for genuinely short, multi-site locum work.
Once you are registered
Log every session with its date, rate, and workplace, send invoices that chase themselves, keep your documents current, and watch your tax reserve build as you go.
Checklist | Documents
Sessional sends reminders 30 days before each expiry.
Checklist | First year
Related
Last reviewed April 2026. Rates and regulator details change. If something looks off, let us know.
From the first booking
Keeps the records, does the sums. Filing and advice stay with you and your accountant.
Sessional tracks every session, invoice, expense, and document from day one. No card to start.