Pay with Dict8

[Chrissols]

Good Morning all Dict8 ladies

Got a bit of feedback yesterday on my first letter... I did relisten and checked it but think if I'm not 150% sure on something I'll mention it in the comments because they sort of made out I made a couple of typos when I'd actually put what I thought I'd heard.

@musicismagic333 - you will soon get used to the feedback, which can be quite harsh - and also sometimes incorrect. I have had feedback in the past dated for days when I had not typed and for specialties I do not have, so presumably feedback meant for someone else.

At the end of the day, much of it is just their opinion; when I worked in a hospital and we did not know a word or a phrase we asked someone else's opinion, and sometimes got various answers - that is all this feedback is a lot of the time, what they think they hear as opposed what you think you hear. The feedback has not come from the doctor stating what he/she said. It is just was they think. Don't let it get you down.

Thanks Gally123. Hope you all have a lovely weekend, weather crap Saturday but bit of a heatwave Sunday apparently. Bring it on!!

Morning all

Guess what, got my pack this morning been a long wait. Not sure now but will see. I also see they are once
again recruiting on Indeed today. Various specialities. Weather is crap like you say looks like rain all day.

@musicismagic333, I agree with @Gally123. I used to love the group discussions at work trying to decipher crap dictation !!

Can tell dict8 have taken on new transcribers, the work has gone well down

@Chrissols - yes. Also bit annoyed - my Tpro hospital has reduced its available work/specialties as well - all the surgical stuff (my specialties) returned to being typed in house. When this first happened about 2 weeks ago we were told they were fiddling with the system and the specialties had been removed for a few hours only and would return later that day. I asked last week and was given a vague reply that they "had been very busy" so I niavely assumed that they had been doing work on the system which was taking longer than anticipated. I asked again yesterday and was given the reply that the work was being done by the secretaries themselves. So tasks reduced from about 500 a day to 145 and none of my specialties, so not too happy!

Also still spending a lot of time putting words back into the DICT8 spell checker.

@Gally123 I still haven't claimed my last bit of pay from Tpro as don't want to log on (am dreading seeing any messages). It's odd that it has gone back in house though as weren't they with Tpro before the pandemic? I know my local hospital now is inviting all it's medical secretaries to work from home on a permanent basis!!! Not sure how you can be classed as a true medical secretary and not be on-site where the consultant is?

@Chrissols - I am waiting a few days to see what happens as they said (by way of plication I think) that new specialties would be taken on, otherwise I am thinking of asking if it is possible to be matched with a different hospital. My application was frozen via the pandemic and only put through in October so do not know what the situation was previously.

I agree - how can you take patient phone calls, liaise with other departments, open post, send post etc from home? Let alone effectively speak with your consultant and other doctors etc. Funny, but I looked online at various recruitment agencies and a lot were advising for med secs in hospitals (at a range of pay scales) but none in my area

@Gally123 and @Chrissols. I have not logged into Dict8 so I don't know how the work is faring. I agree that you cannot truly be a Medical Secretary working from home (audio for sure). Perhaps they have a way of linking the phone line through to home ... doesn't sort out the post though does it. Working from home as a PA Med Sec works in the private secretary but I still had to go out to the private hospitals to pick up the post for my Consultants. It all sounds rather ridiculous.

Yes the spell checker that does not save the word even when it has been put in 100 times !!!!! what is that all about ?? Surely there was a way of saving the dictionary before the update. Years of input gone 🤬👿

@Meha5a - have you checked in your dictionary that you have not already got a similar word saved? Or it could be in their global dictionary but I have found if I tried to save, for example "Aspirin" and "aspirin" has already been saved it will not accept the alternative version.

Spell checker has become rather annoying now I find.

@Gally123 I did notice that when I checked, before I was able to save both upper and lower case.

Agree that you can't offer such a good service to NHS patients and staff if you're not on site. I've only done one letter so far for Dict8, not looking good!

Well I'm absolutely bamboozled today been typing crap from other specialities! Haven't a chuffing clue what they were on about, but for some reason came in under my specialities. Iv'e had a go because there was nothing else on! I have had 3 different ones so far and quite a few letters from all 3! Wonder if the doctors have got mixed up, but they were dreadful or I wonder if they have been put in because no one can understand them and they are dropping them in anywhere they can. Can't wait for the feedback on that lot! -
Tpro ladies:... didn't get paid until two days later, was panicking thinking they hadn't got my invoice, but must say it was a bit of bonus getting extra this month albeit £250 but still nice to add on to DICT8....
Accuro messaging like no tomorrow wanting me to start typing again, but they can get lost when they offer such low return. They must be desperate as I have had three emails now but I am a bit put out by them as they had the cheek to ask if transcribers would reduce their rates when lock down started to keep them in business, I mean it is pretty dire to start with! I think with other companies out there now giving better rates, they need to start thinking about their rates as no one is going to work for such a pittance plus the work is so faffy.

@carosel2 - I occasionally get the different specialties in my DICT8 work. I think in one case it may be where they all log in using the same codes in the Private Unit of the hospital.

I have in the past had dental, eyes and orthopaedics, with DICT8 neither of which I normally type and were very technical, plus other oddities but as I say, I think it is down to people using the same clinic room and possibly the computer was not properly logged out by the previous person and so the wrong log in was used to dictate.

I did have this also in TPRO once as the dictator was not the person listed and we assumed that the dictator somehow used the other person's log in (who was surprised to be automatically sent this odd letter for checking).

@Gally123 you are probably right I can see that happening them not signing off and someone else going straight on withought checking ive had skin cancer clinics oncology and dermatology (though that could include skin cancer) none are mine
As for Tpro I'm finding my own specialties okay. Its s shame you cant pre listen to author though as ive struggled with a few even in my own specialties and have had to type. I know you can put them back but your name appears on list and id have loads if i did that haha so now when i pick one im taking note of which doc is bad to avoid in the future. [Smile] and who is clear

Just dared to peak on Tpro - no messages telling me off for not doing any......so surprised. 1029 tasks waiting for typing!!!

@carosel2 - I don't know if it is the same for all Tpro hospitals but as you say, when I first started some of the letters were typed on a blank template and grouped as per the consultant and some were on headed paper template with each doctor named as the dictator; after the specialties were removed a couple of weeks ago I noticed that all the letters now seem to be on headed letter paper template and each doctor is named for every dictation, so now I know who has dictated every letter. (I had thought when the specialties were removed that they would reappear with this new template, but obviously not). This may happen at your hospital as well.

@Chrissols - if I leave a query with Tpro and log off before I get the answer I receive their reply by email.

@Chrissols- wow! I have 400 you must have a different hospital!

@Gally123 just seen message that weve been grouped to our fav specialties and just a few more so some have been removed. They said it may help get them typed quicker if the allocate specialties to transcribers with the experience to fit! Which makes more sense

@carosel2 - yes, I saw that message, not sure where that leaves me as all my fave specialties have gone and I have no experience in the ones left, although don't think we are the same hospital as there are only 200 dictations showing. I think I am going to ask to be matched with a different hospital as it is getting rather frustrating.

@Gally123 - I would, as it did say if you arent happy to mention it but may have been the specialities that have been left with you. When I got accepted it was because two of mine were two they had a lot of in the particular hospital that im working for so I have been lucky. Why not ask if there is another hospital that has your specialities that you can work with as it makes sense. I dont know why they didnt do it like that in the first place as surely their letters whichever hospital would get typed faster and more accurately. Ive had excellent feed back but its because I know the specialities (still struggle on some though like we do with dict8)!

I agree - how can you take patient phone calls, liaise with other departments, open post, send post etc from home? Let alone effectively speak with your consultant and other doctors

Hi, just reading the thread. So for us, this is how it works - how life has changed post-COVID.

Our secretaries work 50% in the hospital and 50% WFH.

No office distractions. No more straining to hear patients over the noise of the office, printers, other secretaries on phones vacuum, fire alarm tests etc. For our secretaries, who have no family at home during the day they can log in and start typing letters at 7am rather than getting up at 5.45 to wait for the bus, etc. In the office when you arrive now you have to sanitise work stations and contact points on doors, surfaces, etc before you start work. WFH - bed to starting work - 15-20 mins. "In-hospital" bed to starting work at least 1.5+ hrs.

Every secretary has a trust mobile/laptop - work phones are diverted to that Liaising with consultants and other departments is nearly always via Email (COVID means very little moving around for doctors, nurses secretaries) - an Email trail with several copied in; secretary, CNS, consultant, radiologist, etc informs everyone at the same time rather than ringing around.

So for a GP referral, Email arrives from surgery to Sec which gets forwarded to consultant who decides date, back to the secretary who informs patient by phone and letter (sent from main distribution centre off site) surgery informed of outcome by Email. Much quicker (minutes rather than days of a letter arriving via snail mail and sitting in a consultant's tray then appointment letter waiting to be collected from the office by the post staff the following morning).

Perhaps it is worth putting in the extra hours from home to finish typing clinics etc if it means there is no waiting for buses in the pouring rain then sitting in traffic jams for over an hour at the end of the day.

I don't know if things will ever return to how they were pre-COVID as Trusts have invested so much money in making things work digitally.