Locum psychiatrist
Low £85.00Typical £130.00High £180.00
Rate benchmark
Locum psychiatrist rates in the UK, 2026
£130.00typical per hour
Indicative pay ranges for UK locum psychiatrists in the 2026/27 tax year. What’s typical, what drives variance, and how to benchmark your own rate against the market.
Ledger | Indicative 2026 range
Low, typical, and high.
Consultant psychiatrist locum work splits across NHS bank (£85 to £120/hr), framework agency (£110 to £160/hr), and independent hospitals like Priory, Cygnet, and Elysium (£120 to £180/hr, often paid as £1,000 to £1,600/day). Section 12 approval, Approved Clinician status, and sub-specialty (CAMHS, forensic) push rates to the top of the range. MHA tribunal and expert witness reports (£1,500 to £3,500 per report) sit outside this hourly range entirely.
| Rangeper hour | LowIndicative | TypicalIndicative | HighIndicative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative 2026 range (per hour) | £85.00 | £130.00 | £180.00 |
Indicative 2026 range (per hour)
Figures are educated estimates. Sources include: Royal College of Psychiatrists member surveys; Independent hospital group published consultant day rates; Psych-specialist agency rate cards (Globe, Athona, Cpl Healthcare). Real rates vary by individual contract and market conditions. Sessional doesn't guarantee any specific rate and your individual outcome depends on your negotiation and the organisations you work with.
01 | Market context
05Rate driversWhat drives the variance
For psychiatrists, the employer type is the biggest lever: NHS bank sits at the low end, framework agency in the middle, and independent hospital work at the top.
Geography: London and the South East run 10% to 20% above the national average. Scotland and Wales typically mirror the national mean; Northern Ireland is often lower.
Urgency: last-minute cover pays more. Organisations covering a sudden gap often pay 20% to 30% above their standard rate.
Specialty: out-of-hours, unplanned care, specialist wards, and complex caseload all uplift the base rate.
Volume: regular weekly bookings are usually offered at a lower rate than ad-hoc shifts in exchange for certainty.
Route to market: direct bookings pay more than agency routes because no one takes a cut.
02 | Your ledger
04Benchmarking stepsHow to benchmark your own rate
Write down the last ten bookings you accepted and the rate you charged or received.
Break them down by region, urgency, and duration.
Compare each against the typical range above. If you are consistently at or below the low end on standard bookings, you are probably underpriced.
Next time you are asked for your rate on a standard booking in a London or South East organisation, quote the typical figure from the headline above and see what happens. A refusal tells you about the booking, not your rate.
03 | 34 cities
Look up your city
01Locum psychiatrist in London02Locum psychiatrist in Manchester03Locum psychiatrist in Birmingham04Locum psychiatrist in Leeds05Locum psychiatrist in Liverpool06Locum psychiatrist in Sheffield07Locum psychiatrist in Bristol08Locum psychiatrist in Newcastle09Locum psychiatrist in Nottingham10Locum psychiatrist in Leicester11Locum psychiatrist in Coventry12Locum psychiatrist in Bradford13Locum psychiatrist in Southampton14Locum psychiatrist in Portsmouth15Locum psychiatrist in Brighton16Locum psychiatrist in Reading17Locum psychiatrist in Oxford18Locum psychiatrist in Cambridge19Locum psychiatrist in Norwich20Locum psychiatrist in Milton Keynes21Locum psychiatrist in York22Locum psychiatrist in Plymouth23Locum psychiatrist in Derby24Locum psychiatrist in Stoke-on-Trent25Locum psychiatrist in Hull26Locum psychiatrist in Sunderland27Locum psychiatrist in Glasgow28Locum psychiatrist in Edinburgh29Locum psychiatrist in Aberdeen30Locum psychiatrist in Dundee31Locum psychiatrist in Cardiff32Locum psychiatrist in Swansea33Locum psychiatrist in Newport34Locum psychiatrist in Belfast
Last revised 24 April 2026
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