NHS redeployment

[ScorchioScorchio]

I work for the NHS, and as from next week I'm being redeployed to work as a Healthcare Assistant to help cope with the expected peak of Covid-19. I'm very unlikely to be at the frontline of Covid treatment but I'll free up other, more experienced, healthcare workers to allow the fight to go on. Anyone else being redeployed?

Yes, AHP going to be redeployed soon - probably community rehab to help with discharges from hospital . I am feeling slightly anxious as I have only be qualified 9 months - it has been an interesting first year in my new career!

Are you a HCA at the moment?

Not yet, but it’s on the cards. My community trust is redeploying tier 3 employees first. My role (community specialist nurse) is considered to be tier 2 so we will be redeployed after tier 3.
How are you feeling about your new role? I haven’t worked in the acute sector for 4 years so I’m a bit anxious about that but I feel fine overall about stepping up & doing my part.
Good luck.

@LeoTimmyandVi nope. I'm a SLT.

Felling okay about it to be honest. It felt fraudulent to be described as a 'keyworker' when my role wasn't key to the Covid effort.

@ScorchioScorchio ah, OT here. We have been told we will probably be deployed at a lower banding but will receive training for the parts we don’t currently have the skills for.

Me! From non clinical back into clinical work, will be interesting 😬

Pretty sure my sister will be redeployed back to ICU fromRecovery as there are no more elective surgeries. She left ICU because she was sick of being redeployed to the wards to make up numbers. Oh the irony!

FunnyCradock (or anyone)
What is meant by tier 2 or tier 3 employees and how do I find out what I am?

@Scorchio - what area of SLT? Are you dysphagia trained? (That's what I am) and we aren't being redeployed now as they can see the massive respiratory dysphagia boom we're about to face. We're bringing in community SLTs as needed to reinforce the acute team. Paeds teams are being redeployed unless they can help the adult SLTs somehow.

@AmyFl it might be an internal system they are using to prioritise services for redeployment. We have something similar buts it's called something slightly different.

I'm an SLT and all my friends in the NHS are being redeployed at various trusts around the country.

Wow good luck to all those being redeployed, I hadn’t heard of it happening in our trust yet although I’m a specialist nurse and moving to a&e to help front line. I’d imagine it’ll be basic cares you’ll be helping with, just make sure to ask for help if needed and say no if your not comfortable doing something!

@peacebypeace what bit of SLT are you in? I'm surprised at SLT redeployment if they are dysphagia trained??

I'm currently part of the team organising redeployments in our NHS Trust. A lot of people are going back into frontline care roles where they are most needed. We have however asked all our team leads to let us know how many staff they need to retain in order to look after patients with critical needs - and things like dysphagia definitely come under that. We're all doing our best to make sure it's done right. We're also making sure the redeployments work in terms of geography, family needs and of course staff vulnerability in terms of their own health.

I'm the one bashing all that data behind the scenes. It feels like making a lot of decisions for people which are beyond their control, but everyone is being brilliant, flexible and good natured about it all.

@pointythings that's reassuring to hear. Dysphagia is often very overlooked when hospitals are busy so we're all really concerned we won't be able to do what we know needs to be done with our respiratory patients. Well done for undertaking what must be quite the task!!

@spirdygirdy where I am the SLT team are redeploying a lot of their people specifically to those areas where dysphagia is going to be an issue. I have been doing cartwheels mentally in order to collect the right data on specialist skill sets among staff in order to make sure they go to the right place - up to and including some 14 hour days. I don't mind - it's evidence led redeployment and our directorate are leading by example.

@ScorchioScorchio I work in a special school, employed by them directly. Most of my friends aren't dysphagia trained though a couple are. They work in community clinics, mainstream schools and child development/tertiary multi disciplinary assessment mainly.

SIL has;she was a ward clerk for a non urgent department so they've closed it and she's been redeployed to other parts of the hospital.Its been changing each day.

@spirdygirdy I'm a paed SLT with no dysphagia training. Our dysphagia-trained therapists' skills are in demand, as you said.

I'm a community dentist being redeployed to support the district nursing team. We had training on Friday which was really interesting. We'll be working as support worker/assistant practitioner AfC level3/4. The dental nurses are band 4/5 so despite the new skill they have to learn they should be fine. Me too! We'll be doing insulin injections, wound dressing, pressure sore monitoring. My biggest change will be working on my own, I usually have a nurse to tidy up after me!
Dentistry isn't happening at all except in very few urgent care centrees as it's so high risk so I'll be glad to get back to seeing patients.

Sort of. Final year children's nurse, all uni has gone out the window so we're being asked to do paid work counted as practice hours for our final year. Makes sense!

I'm in the admin side of nhs and although I still had work to do, I was rushed off to another department the other day as they were apparently rushed off there feet due to sickness and had nobody to answer the phones etc, I went over and they stumbled around for a while looking for stuff for me to do, had me filing blank paper for the full day (non urgent at all) I was bored silly. It absolutely amazes me the amount of money the NHS wastes and how I'm having to go into work pushing paper around at a time like this. Same in my usual department, there's 3 of us and I'm often bored silly, the work could be done by 1 full time person and maybe a part time person. I've mentioned it multiple times but manager isn't interested. (I will be looking elsewhere when this has blown over)

I'm managing a team of people who have been re-deployed. They are from corporate services (finance, HR etc) and are now delivering/managing PPE stores for the Covid stock. It's been quite an experience for us all. I'm a clinician by background but not practiced for 3 years - I'm waiting for the call back to the front line

I'd have thought Corporate services still needed to do their jobs, especially HR at a time like this!

Lots of people probably won't get paid or get any employment support because that personnel has all been redeployed...but we're the NHS and fighting the good fight so we're expected to accept it and get on with it. Makes me SO cross. We're like lambs to the slaughter.