Locum GP, and wife and mother of two young children, Surina, is a trailblazer in a very exciting, emerging sector of the technological field: ‘Doctorpreneurship’ as editorially popularised by a recent article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), entitled ‘Doctors turn entrepreneur to try to modernise the NHS’ by Anne Gulland. For her - significant - part, featured in the BMJ piece, Surina co-founded My Locum Manager, a website which effectively integrates all the specific paperwork of financial administration for locum GPS – general practitioners who are called in to stand in for regular GPS at times of emergency, as well as in a number of other special circumstances. “Even in the earlier stages of making the website, I was experiencing the very issue which led me to make this software,” Surina explained. Being a medical professional constantly on the go with a family to look after too, life was demanding enough for the young physician without “the additional stress” of having to complete disparate medical documents, from ‘generating invoices and logging expenses to organising patient appointments at different practices and sorting pension plans and tax-returns’. It was eating into personal hours. “Between the children, full-time work and my entrepreneurial exploits, sleep was the first to be sacrificed! I’d be up until 1am.” But the temporary time loss was worth it. Together with husband, Matt Beddoe, Surina can now boast a fast-growing, highly resourceful website, saving herself and many a delighted customer their precious recreational minutes. “My Locum Manager isn’t just an online accountant, but also helps manage the day-to-day admin in a doctor’s life. It allows you to have all your financial data collected over time, whereby with the press of a button, you have all you need to sort your taxes.” The site has been voted number 1 in ‘Top Medical Websites for GPs’ and has enjoyed rewarding partnerships with reputable companies such as Doctify, Red Whale - GP Update and Medisave.
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“Enthusiastic industry support has certainly been a highlight,” Surina commented. “That and seeing my children so proud of their mum. They are excited whenever My Locum Manager is mentioned, and when my husband and I were designing what we call the ‘wireframes’, an outline for the software, they were saying, ‘wow, you’re really good at drawing graphs!’ Those moments of family appreciation and togetherness have been wonderful.” Surina’s organisational website has also come full circle in a wider sense. Once stretching her already tested time as an NHS professional attempting anxiously to navigate an intimidating, new digital world, she is today contributing to alleviating the immense pressure faced by thousands of overworked medical staff at a difficult time for the national healthcare system. “We are concertedly growing the concept to include other areas of the NHS,” she shared with us. “We will be announcing the details very soon. My Locum Manager is a site for doctors designed by doctors. It’s why our growth has been so successful – it’s organic. We’ve included feedback from users over time and listened to fellow professionals to make the service optimal. We’re happy to see this user-friendly model being extended to new sectors.” Here, Surina went on to add one final overlapping merit: “as a doctor, you do tend to approach situations in quite a fear-driven way as failure is not an option. Venturing into the tech space has allowed me to relax and be more creative, really having fun with my work.” Indeed, Surina practiced her early programming skills by coding what became a popular Star Wars app. “Making mistakes was more constructive. They helped me to learn and grow each time. It is really good to have experienced this alternative life view.” Thus, Surina’s unique departure from a traditional remedial vocation not only shows emotional and physical health as equally important, but at once encapsulates the modern shift in professional values. One that sees emotional enrichment on a par with pragmatic stability and forwards a more holistic idea of occupational fortitude. “I think my desire to explore different fields was with me from a young age,” Surina concluded. “I grew up being taught: if there is no way there, you can make your own path. In the tech-age, I’ve had access to the appropriate contemporary equipment, and with my husband, Matt, being quite tech-savvy, here we are! I feel all my different roles, including being a mother, are really complementing each other, making me a well developed individual.”
It seems as if having a like-minded life partner really helped you. Can you give more comment?
Yes, it does. Matt is a very hands-on sort of husband and helped make sure my family commitments never had to take a back-seat. As well as helping me visualise and convey what I wanted to with the website, he is also a doctor by trade so that’s doubly reassuring.
Can anyone use your website – for example freelancers of different professional backgrounds?
We want a model that will work excellently within the health sector, reinforcing the software. Then, yes, it would be great to adapt it out. It’s actually quite flexible in its current form. It can help a young doctor who wants to take out a mortgage by accurately providing financial data. If you’re a busy mother, it automatically helps you track your hours.
How did you make My Locum Manager User-friendly?
With the main goal being simplicity and usability. If I couldn’t complete a task on the site quickly, I would just start over. We didn’t want fancy features that might have a knock-on effect on easy use.
Problem-solving is certainly an important skill. However, decreasing the burden on NHS staff can be a two-pronged strategy. Do you have an observation of what could be done by the government to help?
We’re so lucky to have the NHS – a system where your background does not interfere with access to vital health care. We need to work hard to protect this. There is some reform such as the NHS clinical innovation scheme, but we’re still gravely underfunded. Another helpful idea here might be to cut expensive consultancy intervention, and simply listen to doctors on the ground to improve the system and decide the distribution of funds.
Finally, what’s your advice to others who are in full-time work who want to make a bigger change?
Make sure your idea is driven by happiness, not the desire to make a huge amount of money. Passion is far better a measure of success; focus on making a product that’s useful for people; don’t let distractions and setbacks deter you; it’s alright to start small. A couple of hours a day, for a project, can turn into six hours then whole days; finally, surround yourself with supportive people. You need positivity.
T: @dr_Surina