Pay with DICT8 extra

[Gally123]

Hello Ladies - hopefully a new thread for you... @Carosel2 @Whitestar55 @Chrissols @danblack87 @flutterby18 @wfh21 @workingfromhomenow @cherryblossom114 @Lovemydaxie @homeworkmum and anyone else I have forgotten.

Ahh I see, I only started typing on 16th March and seem to have had some almost every day since, maybe I've gotten the hang of this (fingers crossed). I did email them regarding some feedback but didn't get a response, they had told me that something didn't make good clinical sense but it was dictated by someone whose first language wasn't English so I had just typed was dictated and when I emailed them I said they were being a bit contradictory as they had pulled me with feedback the day before saying I had typed something that wasn't dictated so I just typed what was dictated rather than correct the English grammar and they didn't reply 🙈

@bluebell8329 - you will find the feedback is contradictory as it depends on the person doing the feedback and how they interpret their instructions. We have all had it, do one thing one day, told to do it another way, we do that and then get feedback to say to do it the way we had originally. It is annoying and frustrating and rather pointless, but you will get used to it.

Also @bluebell8329 I found it is pointless emailing them back to pull them up on their error, as as you have found they just ignore you as your right and they can't admit they were confusing you with their incorrect feedback, also I have found what happens is they just check your work again more. In a real work place they would not get away with this unsupportive form of feedback. I accept it thinking I can work when I want and it suits my lifestyle now. Don't think its you as its not, just rise above it. Also what a dreadful job proof reading is at the end of the day. Highly boring. Once a year they email us asking if we would like to give them feedback on what they could improve, save it for then. That whole exercise again is pointless as I can 100% guarantee everyone puts pay increase but we never get it and payment by BACS but we never get it.

@bluebell8329 Hi, Unfortunately the way the DICT8 system works you'll find that you have to use the ALT N notes box very frequently, as they expect you to query everything in this thing, as well as using it to type memos/messages to the secretary etc. So if a name spelling is unclear - notes box, something doesn't make sense - notes box, poor dictation - notes box, copy and paste instructions (diagnoses etc) - notes box. It's quite time consuming over the course of the day and we are not paid for anything typed in it, which is unfair considering it is usually the quality of the dictation and not the skill of the transcriber, that is at fault. The feedback is pretty much pot luck as to whether a particular task is chosen for proofreading or if the dictator complains about something. When you first start with DICT8 you'll be proofread frequently and thereafter I think it's more random.

After watching the instructional videos and reading the 'Help' that states to email DICT8 about difficult tasks and to use the ALT N for queries (they don't actually seem to mention the memos to the secretaries that we have to type in the box, in the videos or instructions, they appear to have overlooked it for some reason!) and to search the Net etc, suggest the usual doses for drugs if you suspect it is wrong, I feel inclined to email them saying that I charge for my time to perform those services. We are after all considered to be self-employed contractors.

Hi! I just wanted to say thanks for all the info on this thread. I had been thinking of re-applying to Dict8 – worked for them for about 4 years a while ago. Can’t believe the rates are still the same!! This was one of the reasons I left plus I was often demoralised when typing long, heavy letters in one particular specialty and they would suddenly became unintelligible – so to continue the letter or cancel?? Tired, late at night, I often cancelled!! Probably couldn’t be doing with this ‘notes’ business anyway, Alt+N was bad enough! So may apply to other websites that people have mentioned but I have been out of the NHS for more than 5 years (but continued in private medicine for a while).

Work on DICT8 is sparse today and one of my specialties I presume has been engulfed by newly taken on transcribers. How's everyone else finding things? Is Tpro any better ?

I’ve only just started dipping my toe into the Dict8 pool, and I know I can earn £1000 before paying tax as tax-free trading income in a second job in the UK so my few weeks before April won’t matter. Does anyone have any good tips for what to do when I do more hours, and also what I can set off against tax? So for instance if I buy a foot pedal do I deduct that from my “profit” so I save the tax on the amount they cost?

any advice welcome

@Whitestar55 Very quiet for me too, think it's going to have to be housework for me 😖

@Housemum I use an accountant as I can never get my head around it. But.....I have been told you cannot deduct the whole amount of the foot pedal from what I gather, just a percentage of it - I could be wrong though.

@Housemum I also use an accountant. Although it costs me around £300 a year they are better able to decide what I can and cannot offset against my tax and I believe they save me more than they cost. The foot pedal is a definite yes, computer, the household bills, the cost of the accountant - although it may be a percentage of it all.

I once phoned the Inland Revenue to ask about the cost of setting myself up with a computer and they told me I couldn't make a claim for that as it would also be used for non-work, personal use. I suspect though that they would say anything to avoid having to give tax relief.

@Whitestar55 - I claim for laptop for work, however only for half of the cost on the basis that half is used for non-work purposes, the same for printer. The foot pedal is 100% work related. And what you think MPs claim - when they are paid huge amounts in the first place - they claim for laptops etc - therefore so can we. Also they claim for computers in the office plus laptops at home....

@Whitestar55 my accountant definitely claims for my computer for me but its a percentage and DICT8 is the only work I do at present.

@Indiepops yes, my accountant is the same, a percentage of computer, percentage of foot pedal, percentage of headset etc

Anyone noticed that we rarely get positive feedback anymore no praise for when you type yr letter perfectly. I am being checked every day at the mo as forgot to type a second letter on a file but out of the 25 letters I’ve done today I only get the neg feedback where I typed a hospital number wrong, it’s what I heard, dictation was awful and a medical term that was incorrect but it could of been either of two things I took a chance and didn’t use Alt N to flash it up. We used to get a nice post saying your work was good or excellent. It’s getting me down and I’ve been here before a few years ago but the feedback was not this neg I got the positive as well. I like to think the proof readers have to justify their jobs so are determined to find things wrong.

@user1493458352 please don't let it get you down, I have got quite upset by unnecessarily negative feedback in the past and sent e-mails regarding it, to no avail - so I decided to just give the feedback e-mails a cursory glance to digest the information. I think really we need to simply view it as feedback, no more than that, and not criticism as such - very hard when you feel like you're being treated as a faceless, brainless idiot when in fact we're highly skilled responsible people who have either simply made a small error or an incorrect judgement call on really bad dictation. If its justified I won't make that mistake again, if I've misheard bad dictation then there's nothing I can do about it anyway, its out of my hands but I now just accept that they have had to inform me. I find the best way to deal with it is to briefly read the e-mail, digest it and move on. No point getting upset about it as the jobsworth the other end has absolutely no idea about the reality of doing this job.

Thanks for putting into perspective for me. Last week I did just that for someone feeling like I am and hey ho it just got me this week. Thanks again I’ll follow ur advice re reading it briefly.

I do wonder if the directors know how truly awful this job is, doing the same thing over and over for peanuts, expecting silk purses out of the mostly pig's ear of a dictation.

Why do some of these doctors insist on recording their dictation on a what I presume is traditional dictaphone and then playing it back through the dict8 system, you can hardly hear it and it sound like they are in a toilet. I am stuck today with 4 such files as this on my screen. It looks like an early Friday finish for me.

Has anyone worked for Outsec? I have test files and they sound good (but I'm sure all test files do!). Would like to hear thoughts before I jump on board. Also any recommendations on where to buy a pedal compatible with express scribe (or is anyone selling one?)

Has anyone received their pay cheque yet? Mine has been processed and I assumed that meant it had been sent, but not arrived yet.

Task: "letter to"
Feedback: "should be typed in note box"
????????????
So they want us to type for nothing now ????

Hi everyone

Hopefully I'm in the right thread. I'm from Northern Ireland. I have just signed my transcriber agreement, would love to hear experiences good and bad. I recently left the nhs after 12 years as a medical secretary and have taken the plunge due to so many reasons to work from home permanently.

What is the pay like?
Also is there a template they prefer to use etc?

Looking forward to hearing from everyone- hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Hollie x

@Gally123 my cheque arrived the day after requesting it