*** The Official NHS Staff Thread ***

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Dimple said:
I don't think so
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That's good then! I am afraid I was not made to have the patience to do so things.

I may have to pick your area of expertise soon I am afraid as it's something I have only had peripheral involvement in. I am weighing up whether it's worth the protracted hassle and stress - not sure it is tbh.
 
Dimple said:
I don't think so because most of the jobs I've had at the Trust have been great for my self diagnosed autism :)
I really do enjoy going to work and I get round that much that I'm known by a lot of staff and my Medico-Legal badge gets me everywhere.
"You can't have that"
Dimple flashes badge
"Oh OK"
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This week I've had a few people reading my badge, and giving me the eye.

Mostly, because I got lost in the Urology department and they were wondering what I was doing for 10 minutes, pacing the corridors and generally looking shady.

Our badge colours are deceptive though, I'm not sure it's even a standardised scheme across the NHS, which I find odd. My colour (red) is used for management staff but there seems to be a lot of random job roles that use the colour, because (I can only assume), they didn't find in to the other categories. People generally need to read the job title on the badge before taking notice of my lack of importance.

In fact, I haven't had to flash the badge yet. I think it helps that I tend to introduce myself before wandering in to the department/unit/ward.

If I ever finish my planned doctorate, that will really screw people up (as the doctors are purple) "How come you got a red badge? hhhnnggggggg" :D
 
EVH said:
I'm not sure it's even a standardised scheme across the NHS, which I find odd.
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There are a lot of things that you would think would be standard but aren't such as the software that is used. For instance we use DATIX for Incidents, Complaints, Claims & Inquests but Monserrat from Stafford (15 miles away) uses something else. Today I was looking through some Shrewsbury Hospital Notes and some Stafford Hospital notes and every similar record is different eg turn charts , stool charts, prescription sheets and so on, you would think there would be a standard across the NHS.
 
It would be nice to get standardised charts but there is not much chance when people work differing start and end times to shifts. Different perspectives in what is important, differing interpretations of research and differing needs for specialities. Some people use differing things for different reasons too eg let me think of an example ... der need coffee ... weight! If I looked at a weight chart generally I would look at it as variation in stored fluid (eg knackered up body kidneys not working etc not kicking out maybe what it needs to ) whereas my wife would look at a weight chart and look at it as a measure of well weight (anorexic etc etc). Now we both would need a chart which would record the weight first thing in the morning and in the evening but be looking at it for totally different reasons - her to keep track of someones eating or rather lack of it whereas I'd look at it as a indicator that someone had too much fluid on board which may mean that I would need to ventilate them harder which I would rather not do. However, your average hospital ward would give you a slap if you asked them to weigh patients twice daily you'd be lucky to get an admission one done! Then you have the whole paeds problem where you can have two patients where one has a heart rate of 160 (neonate) and the other 50 (teenager) and you have to have enough space on the charts to see actual small variations in both - I mean by strict definition you should be jumping up and down the teenager as their HR is less than 60.
 
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Xordium said:
It would be nice to get standardised charts but there is not much chance when people work differing start and end times to shifts.
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I'm not sure if you understood what I was trying to say.
I understand the differences between the big charts like ICU, SSCU, NICU, PICU and so on but if I got them from another hospital the 'template' of the chart would be completely different. You would think the NHS would have standardised decades ago so that if a Clinician looked at a NICU chart in Stoke it would look exactly the same as one from Glasgow or Southampton.
Even in my own hospital the cd disks from radiology, cardiology and another area I can't think of at the moment ;) are completely different and if I ever get disks from other hospitals they are also completely different in the software that runs on them etc.
 
Dimple said:
I'm not sure if you understood what I was trying to say.
I understand the differences between the big charts like ICU, SSCU, NICU, PICU and so on but if I got them from another hospital the 'template' of the chart would be completely different. You would think the NHS would have standardised decades ago so that if a Clinician looked at a NICU chart in Stoke it would look exactly the same as one from Glasgow or Southampton.
Even in my own hospital the cd disks from radiology, cardiology and another area I can't think of at the moment ;) are completely different and if I ever get disks from other hospitals they are also completely different in the software that runs on them etc.
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It is for the same reasons: different people want different things - therefore they want different things shown on them. You'd be shocked on the variation across units on what is considered best practice and how that is both measured and represented. I know even in the units I was in I expected to see information that other people weren't so fussed about.

It would be good if things were common across the board but unfortunately they won't be. I had the misfortune to be assisting on something called the Common User Interface which had a load of people all wanting differing things that relied on their egos more than the patients need and someone from Microsoft putting their moneys worth in to ill effect. They were especially not impressed when I suggested the presentation and the linkage had already been solved ages ago and they may want to look at Football Manager for a nice way to interlink everything. :p
 
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Xordium said:
I had the misfortune to be assisting on something called the Common User Interface
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I wonder if that is like our new Dashboard system?
Basically I can see onto wards and what patients are in which beds, I can see operations happening that day, I can see a patients journey from the last 3 years and outpatient/A&E attendances. I can then go off to PACS, Medisec letters and other stuff such as scanned medical records.
 
It would have had a role in PIMS like systems - more of a common standardised frontend for people. Ended up an abortive and expensive way to re-invent the wheel.
 
I'm a Ct2 in general surgery in Essex at the moment. Really loving the job, but hours in surgery can be ridiculous at times. No idea how I am meant to be completing research as I go! I'm on a really great team at the moment, getting freedom to do basic procedures and decision making, but well supported.
 
Had a keyhole hernia repair this morning at the NHS treatment centre at Queens Med, Notts. Can't fault the staff (one was FIT) or the place (can't imagine private hospitals being much better).

Happy customer, even more so if ultimately fixes my groin :)
 
IT Support for a CSU, CCG's, GP Surgery's, Propco and other customers. It would have been easier to say a primary care trust but now it's all been ripped apart into multiple organisations. Possibly looking for employment elsewhere now.
 
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It security officer in info gov, previously fifteen tears in It but mostly outside the nhs and private. Quite surprised how much each government messes with the nhs every few years..
 
I'm a theatre support worker and have been since dec 2012. Couldn't be happier right now with my job. Its such a fantastic job to be in, for me anyway. You get to see some amazing things in surgery and watching people wake up in recover can sometimes be very interesting!
 
NHS pay squeeze sparks strike threat
Last updated 43 minutes ago


David Cameron: "It is right to take difficult decisions because it means we can keep more people employed"
Unions have reacted with anger to news of a fresh round of below-inflation pay rises for NHS staff in England.

Ministers have announced a basic 1% pay rise, but the 600,000 nurses and other staff receiving automatic "progression-in-job" increases, "typically worth over 3%", will not get the 1% as well.

The main health service unions in England said they would consult members on taking industrial action.

Members of the armed forces, prison officers and judges are due 1% rises.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation is currently at 2%, and the NHS pay review body had recommended that all NHS staff should get a 1% pay rise - whether they were also entitled to progression pay increases or not.


The Scottish government has said it will adopt the NHS pay review body's recommendations in full, meaning that all NHS staff in Scotland will receive the 1% pay rise. In addition, NHS staff in Scotland earning under £21,000 a year will get a £300 rise.

The devolved governments in Northern Ireland and Wales have not yet announced whether they will follow suit.

But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said implementing the pay body's recommendations in England would be "unaffordable and would risk the quality of patient care".

Unison's Christina McAnea accused the government of mixing up annual pay rises with the increments "designed to reflect the growing skills and experience of nurses and other healthcare workers".

'Very modest'
"They are not a substitute for the annual pay rise that is needed to meet the increasing cost of living," she said.

"If the government is set on imposing this change, it clearly doesn't understand how increments work. As it stands, they save the NHS money but if this divisive plan goes ahead Unison will be arguing strongly that staff should be paid the full rate for the job from day one.

"I am appalled that this coalition government can openly boast about the economic recovery and claim that we are all feeling the benefits and then treat health workers so shoddily."


But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander claimed that the progression pay increases were often worth 3%-4% and were awarded simply "because of time served in the job" to more than half of NHS workers.

He told the BBC: "The extra 1% should be confined to those who otherwise wouldn't see any pay rise at all.

"That's what the country can afford."


He conceded this was a "very modest increase", but said: "We had two years of a pay freeze, where people who worked for the government didn't get any pay rise at all - except those who receive these increments, who continued to get those even during the years of the pay freeze."

Pay restraint had to be a "big part" of resolving the "huge financial problems we have as a country", he added.

Rachel Maskell, of Unite the union which represents 100,000 NHS workers, told the BBC that the pay offer was "the straw that breaks the camel's back - a step too far".

"People have got a right to stand up for their terms and conditions, and the government over the years have taken advantage of the fact that people are professional at their work, they are predominantly women workers, and have made a calculation that they can abuse their staff over their pay," she said.

"Enough is enough, and our members are saying they want consultation over industrial action."

'£1bn shortfall'
Separately, Mr Alexander has also announced that government departments were not contributing enough to their employees' pension funds.

A detailed review of NHS, teachers' and civil service pension schemes was not due to be published until later in the spring, he said.

"But it is already clear that these will show the level of contributions paid by employers have not been sufficient to meet the full long-term costs of these schemes.

"If current rates were allowed to continue, the shortfall would be nearly £1bn a year across the teachers', civil service and NHS schemes.

"The government is therefore taking corrective action, and will introduce new higher employer contribution rates for these schemes from 2015. This will ensure that the contributions paid by public service employers reflect the full costs of the schemes, including the costs of the deficits that have arisen since previous valuations.

"This will not have any impact on existing pensioners, on member benefits, or on the contributions paid by employees in those schemes. Instead it will ensure that pension costs are properly met by employers and do not fall as an additional cost to the taxpayer."

Police and crime commissioners
But Brian Strutton, of the GMB union, said the pensions announcement was a "con trick" to justify the "harsh NHS pay announcement" by suggesting that the cost of pensions had increased.

"But that is not the case. There are no extra costs. Let's not be fooled, there is no justification for the NHS pay review body being overruled."

Mr Alexander said it would be left to individual departments in Whitehall to decide whether to offer senior civil servants the 1% pay rise.

Police and crime commissioners, who oversee the 41 police forces in England and Wales, are not due to receive the 1% pay increase.

The pay offer for prison officers is also relevant to England and Wales only.

Salaries for police officers, council workers and teachers are determined in a separate process.

BBC © 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26556047
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