Tough Day at Work…

Yeah, what Dougs said.

I probably will, but need to actually check what it involve first, but I'll be having a proper look today...

Hahaha.

Well, there are also plenty of people who coast. So maybe quaddy can be one of those.

The guy taking me on has been charged with sorting out a new service desk. Not only have i worked as a service desk engineer, I've also managed one and built one myself so I'll try and help in that regard. Might even be able to suggest stuff to make it run better etc.

But this is all pipe dream talk. It'll be balls against the walls chaos no doubt.

Can I ask you a question? As part of this nhs job, I need to sign up for the NHSP flexible worker agreement which is a legally binding contract to get me on board.

Question is, can I accept this while I'm still working elsewhere or do I need to quit my current job first? Note, I'm only on a 1 week notice period in my current job, but I still don't want to end up with bugger all, all round temporarily!

Ekz, I really wouldn't underestimate the value of your experience in other settings. Have you thought about to talking to a recruiter / doing some networking / anybody you rate left that can advise for sector specific?

Good advice that

I have absolutely no idea I'm afraid. I've not had any dealings with NHSP. Can your HR contact advise?

Re: other question. I'm basically a data scientist/software engineer building SaMD for better patient care.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. The thought of speaking to a recruiter hadn't even occurred to me so I appreciate that.
Is a LinkedIn worth having (generally speaking, I know a few of my co-workers have them)? As sort of a first step, I suppose?

Also thanks trowel, that was a more in-depth response than I was expecting when I had my little rant.

No worries, and cheers anyway.

I've found out that the NHS setup nhsp (p is professionals) themselves. The idea is, the nhsp all know about the work and people the NHS want and it's their job to recruit, taking the workload off NHS.

When I was talking to my potential line manager, he was saying that they use the nhsp to get people in. Contracting at first in flexible roles so you can move about. My potential manager said that I need to go through the nhsp and then I'd be directly working for him going forward after the initial 6 months of contracting completes.

I know someone down the pub that has done this and he's still contracting after 9 months (his choice), and he's been offered various roles both contracting and permanent so it seems a pretty good way in.

I just need to be a bit self sufficient during the cutover phase from my old job to the new NHS one.

I've done everything now except sign the final agreement which I'm having a chat with the NHS about on Monday to work out what I need to do next.

Your job sounds pretty interesting. Personally, I'm just happy to be working for a place that actually helps people instead of private corporate places etc

My job ostensibly _is_ interesting. Pretty much my dream job on paper. But it's vastly under resourced, like everything in the NHS, and sadly means it's nigh on impossible to have the impact we'd all like. The last 12 months at work in particular has been a real shit show and I'm currently looking to move, which is genuinely saddening but I've got to the point where I feel like I am paddling upstream against a torrent of shit.

To give a little more context, we have a team of about eight people - most of whom I'd describe as well-intentioned but incompetent or at least inexperienced - but in this month's project review, we discussed THIRTY-FOUR separate projects. That's before you even begin factoring in other day-to-day stuff like communicating with IT, IS teams, doctors, students, etc. etc.

My boss is grafting to keep me on. I haven't told him I'm intending to leave, but he's not stupid and literally said this week he hopes I don't "rage quit", lol. Says a promotion is coming in the next 6 months, but I've been with the team for more than 2 years and soon after I started the previous boss was saying similar. There is NO money in the NHS for things that other industries count as normal practice. You have to justify to Finance getting train tickets for conferences or meetings with colleagues in other hospitals. If you host another team, the catering is boxed orange or apple juice and thin brown piss passed off as coffee. My team doesn't have an office or even hot desks. We either work from home or squeeze into office space assigned to other departments, which can be awkward as fuck as everyone is incredibly protective of their own space. One of the 'offices' I work in is next to a morgue and the building looks like it was last renovated in the 70s or something. The lift has a manual sliding door and if you don't close it properly, none of the other floors can call the lift. The paint on the walls of the staircase is peeling from the leaks through the windows. This is one of the UK's top 3 richest NHS Trusts. I know one scanner which still uses Windows XP as its operating system. But there is not enough money to upgrade it.

You can adjust to those things. The really egregious aspects are things like the adjusted pay scales which the cunt Tories introduced about 3 or 4 years ago which mean you don't get a pay rise until FIVE years of service in your role. Then you get a bump and there are no remaining pay rises after that unless you get promoted. But, like I said, there is no money to create the roles you would conventionally get promoted into in other industries. Catch 22. Another one is middle managers in the pockets of private industry. It makes me uncomfortable, but I do believe there is a place for industry within healthcare. The NHS shouldn't be manufacturing CT scanners for instance. However, I know a handful of senior, influential people who have 1-day per week NHS contracts, whilst running a startup the rest of the time. It's like all the MPs who sit on the boards of investment firms and whatnot. Massive conflict of interest, but no one seems to bat an eyelid up above, presumably because they're all grifting in a similar way.

Working in a place that is basically a political football is fucking weird. I see the effects of that everywhere in my day-to-day and it makes it really hard to actually get anything done. The stagnation then breeds more 'efficiency strategies' and the ouroboros eats itself.

PS: every NHS institution is completely different. That dawned on me soon after joining despite all sharing the same purpose and blue logo. So your experience will be wildly different to mine in many ways I expect.

I'm very bad at detaching myself from work. I've always worked in healthcare where a lot of the motivation comes from the job itself because you care about what you're doing. When you work with competent, like-minded people, it's hugely rewarding because you're all working for a common cause that isn't just financially driven. But, it means I'm really bad at getting hung up on nonsense going on around me because I can't fathom why other people don't hold themselves to higher standards of behaviour. But that's life as I have to remind myself.

Yeah, that's frustrating when you're mostly all working as a team to get it done and some twats don't pull their weight, but as you spot on-ly pointed out, that's the general public for you unfortunately