Need assistance? We strive to offer you the best service possible. These pages are
here to help you get the most from our site and also to help you resolve any queries
you may have.
Why should I register with Medacs Healthcare?Medacs Healthcare is a leading Social Care and Nursing agency with contracts to supply care professionals throughout England. Registering for temporary / locum work with Medacs Healthcare will mean that we can provide you with regular, consistent work – as and when you need it. As a temporary worker we will aim to find work for you within a small selection of regular clients in your local area. This will allow you to build relationships with service users over time and gives valuable continuity to both yourself and our clients.
If you are registering for permanent work you will find the process smooth and uncomplicated. Once your Consultant has your CV and understands which types of role you are looking for, he or she will be able to utilise our numerous contacts within local authorities, private organisations and the NHS to source jobs that may not yet be available in the public arena.
close »This depends on your previous experience. You will need some understanding and experience of working with the client groups that we place you with, however we may be able to offer you work that extends your knowledge and skills.
For example, if you have worked with adolescents with challenging behaviour, this is the sort of work you could expect with us, although because of your skills and understanding of child protection, your Consultant may be able to help you diversify into other areas such as Supervised Contact work
close »Yes we do. Medacs Healthcare is contracted to supply Qualified Social Workers into a large number of London Boroughs and local authorities throughout England.
We can offer you a specialist, high quality service which involves face-to-face meetings with your dedicated consultant and a friendly, tailored package to suit your needs. We will not farm your CV out to numerous teams without talking to you about each role first and making sure that you are interested in applying. We will also negotiate your pay rate directly with the team on your behalf and we offer a limited company service to all our Social Workers.
Please continue to read the Social Care FAQ sections for further information, or alternatively, telephone your nearest branch to speak to a consultant.
close »Whether you register for permanent or temporary work (or both), you will be allocated a dedicated, specialist consultant within your local area who will be responsible for finding you the types of role you have specified.
Once we have established that we are able to find you work, you will be interviewed by either a Candidate Liaison Officer or your dedicated Consultant.
Having one main point of contact within a recruitment agency allows you to build up a working relationship over time and means that your consultant will become familiar with your work preferences regarding job roles, pay methods, when you like to be contacted, and how far you will travel for work. It also means that if you ever leave us for a while and then return, there will be someone in the office who knows you!
Your consultant will contact you with details of a short term or longer term role and will provide you with all the information that you will need about our client and the service users, patients or residentsthat you will be working with.
We believe that by giving you a dedicated Consultant you will receive the best possible service from Medacs Healthcare.
close »Absolutely not. There is no charge to register with us and our service of finding you work is free of charge to you.
close »
This is dependant on the area in which you wish to work and on how quickly you can provide the information we need to make you compliant to work within the care industry.
Most Social Care applicants will need to wait for a new Medacs Healthcare CRB as well as references. Please see our compliance section for further details. CRBs on average are returned within 4 weeks so please bear this in mind when calculating how much time you need to allow for us to fully register you.
Qualified Social Workers will need to provide us with proof of qualification and GSCC registration, as well as references to register. Some of the teams we supply will accept a current CRB while you wait for your Medacs copy, so the registration length could be as rapid as a few days.
Once we have received all the correct documentation, your Consultant will give you a brief induction in your local office, during which you will receive your ID badge and details of payroll deadlines etc.
close »As a temporary Social Care worker you can work as many or as few hours as you wish through Medacs Healthcare, with no obligation on your part.
Some of our candidates are parents or students who only want a few shifts per week to provide them with extra income. Many of our other candidates have relied on us for several years to provide them with full time work every week.
Medacs Healthcare operates a flexible service which allows you to call in your availability for work on a weekly or even daily basis. So, if you have advised your consultant that you would like ongoing full time work, this is what they will source for you. On the other hand, you may want just 16 hours per week, but only on certain days of the week, so again this is what your Consultant will look for.
When you work for Medacs Healthcare, you can ask for last minute shifts, long term contracts or permanent placements – it is up to you!
Qualified Social Workers who are free to locum full time will usually work a minimum of 35 to 40 hours per week on a contract basis of between 3 months and 2 years. If you are a Qualified Social Worker looking for less than 35 hours per week, we should be able to offer you with part time posts or consultancy work.
close »To work for us as a Social Care Worker you must have had at least 6 months paid experience within Social Care in the last 2 years. This ensures that your skills will be at the high standard that our clients require from temporary staff.
Please note that if you have just gained a qualification in care, such as a Nursery Nurse NVQ, this, along with your placement experience will provide you with the level of skill you need to work for us, so we should be able to register you.
close »Medacs Healthcare is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applicants from overseas.
If you have not gained any work experience in the UK but have worked as a Social Carer overseas in the last 2 years, you will need to make sure that your employers are able to respond to our references and reply in English.
Remember that you must have right to work in the UK to register with us. If you are unsure of your status, please contact your local branch of Medacs Healthcare, or the Home Office to clarify this.
close »Medacs Healthcare run a daily payroll, which means that you can submit a timesheet any day of the working week and expect payment directly into your bank account within 3 working days. This means that you will not be left short in the way that you can be with other agencies who only run a payroll once per week
close »
Medacs Healthcare is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applicants of all ages.
close »
For applicants working in Social Care we will need:
As with any role that involves caring for vulnerable adults or children, you will need to fill out certain forms. These include the CRB application and our Medacs Healthcare Registration form.
In addition, you will need to:
- Provide referee details, including your last care employer - your Consultant will instruct you as to which referees they need to contact.
- Attend any mandatory lapsed training as listed in the above section
close »Not all original documentation will be needed again only those that have expired, your consultant can advise you.
close »
As a temporary / locum worker, you will accrue holiday pay according to how many hours you work through us each week, up to a maximum of 28 days per year. Holiday pay will be paid at the average of your pay rate and will steadily accrue over the year.
close »
Why do I need do another CRB through Medacs Healthcare when I already have one that is less than 12months old?Medacs Healthcare is an industry leader in candidate compliance and many of our clients choose to use us above other agencies for this reason.
CRBs are no longer portable between organisations so the majority of our clients insist that candidates hold a Medacs Healthcare CRB whilst working for them. We therefore issue these as standard as part of your registration process.
There may be some instances where a client will accept a non-Medacs Healthcare enhanced CRB whilst you are waiting for your new CRB to arrive. However, this is rare outside of Qualified Social Work.
close »
Medacs Healthcare do not charge any money for CRBs. However, the CRB themselves do charge a £36 administration fee, which you will have to pay for at your interview, preferably in cheque or postal order form.
close »There are many other addressed documents that can be provided such as a valid Vehicle Registration document, Store Card statement or an addressed payslip (issued within the last 3 months). Please contact your local Medacs Healthcare branch or the CRB helpline for further clarity on what we can accept.
close »
You will generally receive your copy of your new CRB a few working days before we do. Your copy will be sent to the address that you gave on your CRB application.
On receipt of your copy, please phone your local Medacs Healthcare branch to confirm that you have had yours back and to book an induction with your consultant. This will ensure that there is nothing left to do when we receive our copy and that we can get you straight out to work.
Please note that your Consultant will need to receive their copy before giving you any work as it may contain extra information.
close »
Please make sure that you keep your CRB in a safe place, ready to take with you to placements if requested by the client.
CRBs need to renewed every12 month, so you should also make a note in your calendar of when your CRB will be 11 months old, at which point you and your Consultant will need to apply for a new one to ensure you remain compliant and able to work when your old one expires.
close »
What should I do if I am interested in a job?If you see a job on the Medacs Healthcare website that you are interested in, please notify your Consultant. At this point you will discuss the position in more detail (such as Job role, Pay, Breaks, Travel and Expenses).
In most instances, your Consultant will phone you to advise you that they have a post or shift that you may be interested in. In these cases, you will simply have to confirm that you would like to take the shift and they will book you in.
close »We will go through all your work options at interview so that we gain a clear idea of your skills and what types of roles we can offer you.
As a temporary worker, once you are fully registered, it is imperative that you make your Consultant aware of your availability for work on a weekly or even daily basis to ensure that you are offered as many shifts as possible.
At Medacs Healthcare we use a bespoke data base that will match you to positions within seconds, using your experience and your availability. It is important that you are available to answer any calls from your Consultant because shifts get filled very quickly when there are several agencies racing against each other.
close »For short term, temporary shifts, it should be a simple case of your Consultant advising our client that you are available for the job and that you have the correct experience and compliance levels. Generally, our clients trust our Consultant’s recommendation and will book you immediately for temporary shifts without wanting to meet you or see your CV.
close »
Although we understand that some circumstances outside of your control may dictate cancellations at any time we request that you give us notice of any cancellation in a timely manner with a full valid reason. Just changing your mind will not be acceptable at the time and we ask you for your 100% commitment with each booking.
close »
We try to give you as much notice as possible but this is sometimes out of our control and last minute cancellations may occur. In instances such as this we will endeavour to offer you alternative work and do our best to ensure you do not lose out. Medacs Healthcare has a policy of not supplying staff to clients that habitually do this and each incident is thoroughly investigated as to why the candidate is cancelled.
close »
For applicants working in Social Care we will need:- Proof of Identification e.g. Passport or EU ID Card
- Proof of address issued in the last 3 months
- Proof of National Insurance Number
- Proof of your right to work in the UK (i.e. UK Visa) (For Non EU Members)
- Two Colour Passport Photos
- Any formal qualification proofs such as Nursery or Social Care NVQs
- Mandatory Training Certificates which include the following (Medacs Healthcare can provide training if yours is out of date):
- Health & Safety
- Moving and Handling
- First Aid
close »- Proof of GSCC registration
- Proof of Social Work qualification
- Proof of Identification e.g. Passport or EU ID Card
- Proof of address issued in the last 3 months
- Proof of National Insurance Number
- Proof of your right to work in the UK (i.e. UK Visa) (For Non EU Members)
- Two Colour Passport Photos
close »As a social care worker it is essential that you hold the following training certificates before you work for us:
- Moving and Handling (including health and safety)
- First Aid
- Food Hygiene (necessary for certain clients)
close »If you are unable to show evidence of completing this training in the last 12 months (3 years for Food Hygiene), you will need to complete it through a Medacs Healthcare refresher course.
close »
Medacs Healthcare is dedicated to providing you with accessible continued development and will offer you refresher training every 12 months.
We do not currently charge for refresher training. However, some branches may ask for a small deposit which will only be refunded if you attend.
close »
How will I know what I am being paid for a shift?When your consultant offers you a shift, they will brief you fully on all aspects of the job, including the pay per hour.
close »
Because Medacs Healthcare is a national recruitment agency, it is difficult to give a short answer to this question, because pay rates reflect the variance between regions and job roles.
Generally, however, you can expect to earn more per hour than you would if you were employed directly with the client.
close »
Yes you will. Payslips are sent to your address at the end of every week. Your payslip will detail the shifts that you have been paid for and show a breakdown of pay per hour and number of hours done with each client.
close »
As with every other recruitment agency, your earnings will be subject to Pay As You Earn tax and National Insurance deductions. These will be deducted automatically and will be reflected in your payslip.
Please ensure that you hand in a P45 or fill in a P46 or P38 (s) (Students only) when you first start working for us, so that we can put you on the correct tax code.
close »
Whenever a client books you directly you will need to contact your Consultant immediately to notify them of the details of the shift. This is because if we hold no record of the shift you are not covered by our insurance and it may also effect how quickly we are able to pay you.
Please note that this is your responsibility and not the client’s.
close »
Medacs Healthcare will only text you with details of a potential shift if we have been unable to get hold of you via the phone.
If you receive a text from us offering a shift, please note that you cannot reply via text. You will need to call your local Medacs Healthcare branch to advise them as to whether you wish to accept the shift.
You can opt out of receiving text messages by simply instructing your Consultant
close »
Some of our clients need booking reference or order numbers on timesheets as a way of marrying up your original timesheet to the Medacs Healthcare invoice that they receive.
close »
Please call or email your Candidate Support/Placement Officer at Medacs Healthcare who will be able to reset your password.
close »
If possible go back to the department for authorisation to be granted, otherwise forward your timesheet to your placement officer who can assist.
close »
Yes we do. Medacs Healthcare feel that it is important to offer a 24 hour service to our clients, so we run a national Out Of Hours Team throughout the night.
The team will continue to contact you with work after 6pm and during weekends, meaning that you will not miss out on work that becomes available during these busy times.
If you are not available in the evenings or weekends you will be able to instruct them not to contact you during these times.
close »
Whilst it is in our interest to assist as many people as possible to find work, Medacs Healthcare is dedicated to maintaining the high standard of experienced Care Professional that we are known for.
If we do not feel that we will be able to find you work, we will advise you of the reasons for this, and what you could do to increase your skills and experience.
Many people who were not selected first time round have taken our advice to build their experience and have successfully returned to us a year later!
close »
If you can’t find what you are looking for, please click the ‘Ask us a question’ button and enter in your question - we will get back to you within 24 hours.