When Did Temporary Staffing Stop Being Temporary?
Written by Jen Gall, Marketing & People Engagement Director
Have you ever stopped to think about how strange the phrase "temporary staffing" actually is?
Because some of the practices we support have been working with us for years. Some of our locum nurses have too.
We've watched practices grow, welcome new associates, celebrate babies, weddings and promotions, and shared the highs and the inevitable challenges that come with running a busy dental practice. We've seen nurses walk into a practice for what was supposed to be a single day's cover, only to become the first person that practice asks for every future booking.
At what point does temporary stop being temporary though? That's a question that's got us thinking.
Perhaps the biggest misconception about locum staffing is that it's all about filling gaps. A nurse calls in sick, someone goes on annual leave, and a diary suddenly has a hole in it. So the phone rings, a booking is made, the shift is covered and everyone moves on.
That may be how it looks from the outside, but in reality that's just the easy bit.
The part that takes time is building the kind of relationships where a practice doesn't just call because they need cover, they call because they know who's going to answer the phone. They know they'll be listened to, and they trust that whoever arrives through the door will represent both S4S Team and their practice with professionalism, kindness and confidence.
That level of trust isn't built overnight and it certainly isn't built by treating every booking like a transaction. It's built one conversation, one shift and one relationship at a time.
Think about a typical Monday morning;
It's 7.15am and a nurse has phoned in sick. The waiting room will soon be filling up and you're already mentally rewriting the day before you've even had chance to finish your first coffee. On paper, you're calling to book a locum. But are you really?
In reality, practice managers are looking for reassurance. They want to hear, "Don't worry, we'll sort it."
They want to know that somebody understands how their practice works, appreciates how important continuity is and recognises that this isn't simply about filling a chair. It's about helping the day run as smoothly as possible for the team and every patient walking through the door. That's why relationships matter.
The longer you work with someone, the less you have to explain. You understand each other's expectations and you know what good looks like. You build confidence, and confidence has a funny way of making difficult days feel a little easier.
The same applies to our nurses. Walking into an unfamiliar practice can be daunting, even for the most experienced clinician. Every practice has its own way of doing things, its own systems, its own little quirks. But when a nurse returns to a practice they've supported before, something changes.
They're greeted by name and they know where everything is. The team already trusts them. and instead of spending the morning finding their feet, they can focus on what they do best - supporting patients and helping the practice have a successful day.
Everybody wins and it reminds us of something that's true across the whole profession. Dentistry has never really been built on appointments.
It's built on familiarity.
Patients feel more comfortable when they recognise the people looking after them, teams perform better when they trust each other and practice managers have one less thing to worry about when they know support is only a phone call away.
So why should temporary staffing be any different?
Of course technology has transformed our industry. Digital compliance, online bookings, instant availability, automated systems... they all make the process quicker and more efficient, and we're huge advocates for using technology to improve the experience for both practices and clinicians. But technology can't build trust. It can't remember that a particular practice prefers a certain style of working or notice when a practice manager sounds exhausted before they've even explained why they're calling.
People do that. Relationships do that. And perhaps that's why, after all these years, some of our proudest moments have nothing to do with numbers.
They're the messages that say, "Can we have the same nurse back?", the practice manager who still calls us first after years of working together, or the locum nurse who tells us a practice now feels like a second home.
Those moments remind us that while a booking might only last a day, the impact of a great relationship lasts far longer.
So yes, we provide temporary staffing, but if we've learned anything over the past eight years, it's this:
The shifts may be temporary.
The relationships rarely are.
And in our experience, that's where the real value has always been.
Written by Jen Gall, Marketing & People Engagement Director at S4S Team
💙 Looking to join or partner with S4S Team? Whether you’re a dental nurse wanting consistent, supportive locum work or a practice in need of reliable staffing solutions, we’re here for you:
📞 Call or WhatsApp – 📲 0114 478 5870 📧 Email – 📩 hello@s4steam.com
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