to accept a job thats morally questionable?

I am sorry you have to maybe leave the dream job you worked hard for and only been there 4 years. If you are hesitating doing the assesor job then it may not be for you and could leave you with regret. I knew a nurse who left the nursing home my mum was at for the same assessor role. She quit after less than 6 months and said it was soul destroying and left her crying at how harsh it was even on people clearly who should get PIP. She returned to the nursing home. Could you not maybe find a nursing job like assessing people who call 111 or work at a GP surgery?

@jobdrama101 Personally I think you’re thinking about it wrong. Think about the positives you can bring to the role - compassion, understanding and doing what’s right. PIP assessment is a necessary role in the society we live in but it can be done in a compassionate manner.

Why is it morally wrong? The alternative to having PIP risk assessors would be not having them at all, and obviously that would be wrong, as it would then be open day for each and every claim if there was no-one to actually assess the claims. There has to be some regulation.

Feeding your kids comes first

Appreciate you’ve not that long been in this role, but you could also consider looking for roles with somewhere like AXA or Aviva as part of their Occupational Health team? Most of the OH Assessors I’ve worked with over then last 5-10 years have been predominantly based from home and had a reasonable amount of flexibility in organising their day.

I understand I really do and I understand the 'bird in the hand' PIP role has appeal over a potential no/unsuitable redeployment. but but but...NHS terms and conditions are not to be given up lightly the sick pay cover is very generous and the pension contributions are very hard to find elsewhere.Op is on her mind 40's with potentially a long term condition. These things matter......She has rights and protections under in her current contract which her manager might not be fully supporting her to understand/make use of..Hence the union/mmc ... You should check whether (for example) you have the right to work in a different role with reasonable adjustments... I'm not sure they can just sign you off from your role if there are tasks somewhere in the trust you can complete....

I don’t understand what is morally questionable. You assess people, those who genuinely need PiP get it, and those who don’t, don’t.

The only thing morally questionable would be the people making fake claims. But that is on them not you. If this job would work for you then go for it

Could you instead look at moving into occupational health or working for a health charity helpline?

That's probably easy to say, but hard to do when there's a job that works for you in front of you now and nothing suitable seeming to be available in the trust.

What happens if the redeployment is completely unsuitable (locations wise etc) and this job is then gone, leaving OP with nothing but starting a job hunt in a rough market?

Sometimes, trusting your gut is better than trusting the system.

Are you a union member if so get advice. Please don't jump to applying for a new role until you've gone through the trust redeployment process. You can turn something down, but they could well find something suitable.

It’s not a morally questionable job. It’s a very sound one.

The issue is with how some people approach it. You can manage that bit for yourself.

Definitely go to occupational health via your line manager in your trust .....you should be eligible for redeployment ?

If you didn’t do that job how would you pay bills/rent etc?

I would take the job and if you don’t like it then keep an eye on other rolls.

when you said it was morally questionable I was expecting you were thinking of going into prostitution or something!! Being a PIP assessor isn't like that. But it might be a hard grind seeing people who may be miserable or may be trying it on. I've dealt with both sorts in a different sort of role where there are a lot of people who need or have PIP.

Someone has to assess applications (someone assessed both my children’s DLA applications and my son might need PIP in thr future). It’s only morally questionable if you don’t do your job properly, just like many other jobs which become morally questionable if carried out without due care and attention (say, a careless magistrate who couldn’t be bothered to look at sentencing guidelines).

I thought you were going to say you were marketing vapes to kids or dreaming up ads to make women feel bad about their appearance so they bought cosmetics. There are real morally dubious jobs out there and a PIP assessor isn’t one of them!

I think it's very easy to say "I'd never do that job" when the ability to house and feed your children isn't a reality.

These are jobs that need doing and you need to be able to provide for your family. In all likelihood, if you turn this down and couldn't find work and ended up on benefits, people would be saying much worse about you (not that I would agree with it, you just know what people are like).

You do what you need to, to keep your family housed and fed x

OP, I do this job and it’s a godsend. I didn’t have any health issues when I started it, but have developed one and I don’t think I could be clinical again. This job has upped my wages considerably, lets me WFH and has a lot of other benefit (mind the pun!) attached.

If you have any questions about the role, let me know!

Morals are fine as long as you can afford to have them😂

those saying they won’t do it - well they aren’t paying your bills are they

when they do pay your bills you can take there morals and feelings into account but until then they can fuck off

Hi Op
I really feel for you, it must be heartbreaking to know your whole world if changing. You should be so proud of yourself though. Making it to your dream job and sticking with it all - it sounds like alot!

I read somewhere that other people’s morals or opinions don’t pay your bills. I work in a questionable industry but I know that I am a good person, I try to better the industry I’m in and I put food on the table. What anyone else thinks is nothing to do with me.

Hopefully I never have to access PIP but if I did, I hope I had someone with knowledge, humanity and the skill set to make the right decisions x

Good luck!

I agree with others it's only morally questionable if they try to twist your arm into denying claims when people need PIP. You're a qualified nurse who potentially has a career ending condition, you will have more compassion and qualifications than most. As long as you're fair it isn't immoral.

It's not as if you're selling weapons to Saudi Arabia or setting up fake PPE manufacturing businesses to defraud the taxpayer...

Primary care nurse? Occupational health? Employee assistance Programmes? NHS 24 operator? Surely there must be jobs out there for a qualified nurse that are doable with impaired mobility. But if you can't find anything, get the Pip role, you might hate it but it's worth a try.

Just promise you’ll come back and do an AMA