Any nurse GDC registered can work self employed, the same as most dentists and hygenists. I worked self employed for several years ... You are allowed to register self-employed retrospectively up to three months after you begin working, so if you are worrying about being in a position where it does not suit the practice to offer you a job this is a good option. Just register yourself with HMRC then issue an invoice and receipt daily or weekly. A monthly payment arrangement may tempt them not to pay you or quibble over hours. (Don't be too trusting. You have none of the safeguards of an employee, also no holiday pay etc, inform them your hourly rate is higher than their employed nurses for this reason). Don't accept cash, insist on cheque direct bank transfer as this gives you proof of payment. The situation which which prompted this was me wanting to apply to the government for maternity allowance for my third child... As I did not have a steady job and most dentists tend not to offer the job to the heavily pregnant it worked well for me. It turned out maternity allowance is not taxable whereas maternity pay is. (More cash when I needed it - I had opted to pay my NIS contributions even though I was not compelled to as I was below the earnings threshold). Another plus - I was not compelled to return to work until I felt I wished to. Tax return not difficult, I found them very helpful whenever I contacted them with a question. Agencies not cooperative, I found work by dropping my details off at dentists closest to my home... You need to have at least two different customers with non-regular hours to be self employed. Another advantage is you can reclaim expenses such as uniform, phone, CPD. Good luck!
