NHS career breaks

[bananastew]

My childminder has just told me she's pregnant and will not be carrying on once the new baby arrives.

I really don't want to send ds anywhere else so am considering taking a career break.

Does anyone have experience in this? i'm a community nurse and currently work 22.5 hours a week. Will i have to give up my current post? How long can I take?

[fledtoscotland]

dont know about career breaks but remember that you have to sign for your registration that you have completed 450 hours practice in 3 yrs

I would speak to the trust's HR in the first instance

[tethersend]

I think you're entitled to 13 weeks' parental leave

[bananastew]

Thanks. I've found the trust policy on line since posting this. It says you can take anywhere from 2 months to 5 years unpaid leave for varying reasons. including parental leave. I'm not sure how that would affect registration but i'm only planning on taking a year so won't have to worry about that!

[QueenofWhatever]

My understanding is that a career break is not an automatic right, but has to be agreed. Are you sure it's what you want to do bearing in mind that NHS jobs are going to start disappearing soon. Most of it will be in acute, but there'll be lots of deployment and competition for posts.

How old is your son? Could you maybe do a couple of shifts a week?

[lovechoc]

also bear in mind the longer you are out of your career the harder it will be for you to return. You may decide after a year that you don't want to return for quite a few years.

I contacted the NMC to deliberately lapse my registration after a year of deciding what to do career-wise and decided not to return - for at least another 4 or 5 years. It was a difficult decision to make, hence the reason it took me so long to decide. Unlike other jobs, you can't just stop and start casually in nursing (as you know, with the PREP standards, min practice hours over 3 yrs etc).

QueenofWhatever not sure about NHS jobs disappearing any time soon. They are already short-staffed as it is, doubt they'll be getting rid of staff they already have!

[QueenofWhatever]

lovechoc, sadly not true. The latest operating framework (which my dull NHS job means I have to read) includes encouraging sections such as:

Workforce

A balance will be needed between workforce flexibility, pay increases, increased productivity and flexibility of employment. Consultants and very senior managers will receive no pay increase for 2010/11 and GP practices will be expected to make at least 1 per cent cash-releasing efficiency savings. Every SHA must reduce management and agency costs by 30 per cent in aggregate by 2013/14. All NHS organisations must review, and where possible reduce, the number of postgraduate medical specialist training posts and pre-registration commissions for nursing, allied health professionals and health care scientists.

Staff
Working with NHS Employers and trade unions ?to explore the pros and cons of offering frontline staff an employment guarantee locally or regionally in return for flexibility, mobility and sustained pay restraint?. (3.30) ?Significantly? reducing management costs in PCTs and strategic health authorities (SHAs) by 30 per cent over the next four years. (4.35)

[santabringmeababy]

Queen,
My experience of working for the NHS (nursing) is that they only make clinical staff redundant when thier performance has been substandard. Our service made 3 people redundant two years ago due to restructuring but now those posts have been 'created' again.
In my opinion, jobs may 'disappear' but only in the sense that empty posts will be frozen, or poorly performing staff will be vulnerable (and the NHS is not a place for poor performance imho).
Redeployment is another matter, that seems to happen quite a bit here, but only to middle to high level management, they never end up out of a job

[bananastew]

Thanks for all your advice! ds is 17 months so not exactly a baby and I only work 22.5 hours a week as it is.

I had almost a year of maternity leave and was quite happy to go back after so i'm not worried about that side of things. I only intend on taking a year because the trust policy states that up to a year can be taken and you can return to your previous post. Any longer and you're just slotted back into a post that suits them.

I'm really struggling to decide whats best! I'm worried that i'll be letting my team down if I do go & also risking a post that i do enjoy. On the other hand I want to be able to spend the time with ds. After all, they're only young once! What to do!!!!!!!

[lovechoc]

there's plenty agency work and bank work to be had if not a permanent post in the NHS - they need to have a minimum amount of staff on any given shift, so losing a job isn't really an issue when it comes to working on the frontline. there will always be work there in one form or another.

[crocoonimper]

Hiya Banana
I am currently on a career break from a 22.5 hr community nursing post and it was the best decision I ever made (my post was a specialist nursing one and was involving far too many meetings and business plans for my taste towards the end). My problem is that i have not worked on the wards for 8 years so now struggling to find a way to maintain my current registration.... however am meeting with the PCT next week to try to arrange updates so... My advice to you wd be to take ur career break but if your Trust will let you do bank work to maintain ur registration (as they wouldnt want to LOSE any more staff ) then you will be ready to go back to something even if you decide you want longer than a year - I know I do!!...
HTH xxx cath

[KoalaSar]

You need to have it agreed first. No point worrying until you know you have the option.

My career break was refused. They had no real grounds to refuse it other than they wanted to make cost savings. They knew I was planning on accompanying my husband on a year abroad so they knew I would resign.

I resigned.

Will they really allow you a career break knowing there will be no backfill for your job? Wouldn't happen where I work!

[KoalaSar]

(they wouldn't allow me to do paid employment while on a career break, either)