Locum directory

The locum directory at sessional.co.uk/locums is a public search page where organisations can find locums by location, specialty, and name. It is the primary way organisations discover locums on Sessional.

The directory shows each locum's name, primary specialty, the towns of the organisations they work with (shown as the area they cover, never a home address), and a biography excerpt. Clicking a result opens the locum's full public profile. A published profile is listed on any plan, including free Basic (see Sessional plans and pricing→).

Organisations search by entering a UK postcode. Sessional resolves the postcode into coordinates using postcodes.io, a free open-data postcode service built on ONS and Royal Mail open data, and then calculates distances using the Haversine formula.

After entering a postcode, organisations can choose a search radius:

• 5 miles: immediate local area
• 10 miles: nearby town and surroundings
• 25 miles: wider regional search
• 50 miles: broad regional coverage
• 100 miles: extended search for areas with fewer locums

Only your general area is shown in results. Your exact postcode is never revealed unless you choose to display it in your profile visibility settings.

Organisations can filter results by clinical specialty. Sessional supports a range of specialties across healthcare professions, including areas such as dermatology, minor surgery, women's health, palliative care, and mental health.

The filter always matches your primary specialty. You can add further specialties on the Professional tab of your profile, but they are matched and shown in the directory only if you switch on Additional specialties on the Visibility tab. That switch is off until you turn it on, so if you want to be found for a second specialty, switch it on and save.

The search bar supports free-text queries. Organisations can search by:

• Name: first name, last name, or both
• Specialty: typing a specialty name works even without using the filter dropdown
• Biography: keywords from your biography text are searchable

Text search and postcode search can be combined with specialty filters for precise results.

The sort order depends on how the search is performed:

• When a postcode is active: results are sorted by distance, closest first
• When no postcode is entered: results are sorted by most recently updated profile first

This means keeping your profile up to date helps you appear higher in non-location searches.

Results are displayed 24 per page. Use the pagination controls at the bottom of the results list to move through additional pages. The total number of matching locums is shown alongside the results.

Directory searches are logged anonymously for operational purposes. Sessional tracks what organisations are searching for to understand demand patterns and improve the platform. Your personal data is never shared with other users through search analytics.