A questions for NHS healthcare professionals

[Wotrewelookinat]

What would your advice be to my daughter who has wanted to be an NHS physiotherapist for several years, is currently applying to uni and been successful gaining interviews, so fingers crossed will be offered a place, but is seeing all the news about the NHS, understaffing, poor pay and working conditions, high stress, strikes etc and having major second thoughts? And I can understand as have worked in a similar high-stress, exhausting job and had an awful work-life balance, and feel like people working in the nhs are treated like sacrificial lambs by this government and it is mainly their compassion and goodwill that keeps the NHS going.

I would be really grateful for your thoughts as don’t know what to advise. Thank you.

That to balance all the terrible stuff that’s part of the NHS at the minute there’s the joy of helping people recover and contributing to saving a life.
That she’ll be making a real difference to peoples lives ❤️

I’m a physio of over 25 years and I still think it’s a wonderful profession to go into.
Yes it’s hard work, and the pay (if you remain working in the NHS) is linked to Agenda for Change so isn’t fantastic, but there are lots of opportunities to work in areas which aren’t hospital based.

I work in the community in a niche roll and I love it. It’s interesting, complex work where I’m valued and feel appreciated by my patients and my team. Would never go back to working in a hospital.

As long as she goes into it with her eyes open and the knowledge that things are bad.

I can’t see things improving either, other posters might be able to offer hope in this regard.

I know that physios are not just able to do their job but are doing the work of social workers, OTs too if working on wards in hospitals as there are staff shortages in these professions too. Someone has to do it to free up beds and get people moving and it can fall to whoever is dealing face to face with patients.

Just to add, physios in hospitals are worth their weight in gold, an absolute God send and seem to quietly just get on with doing the most amazing fantastic job. They are highly regarded and absolutely LOVED by the nurses & patients alike. I cannot praise the profession enough.
They do not get the recognition that they do rightly deserve.

I'm a paediatric speech therapist in the NHS. Yes, the NHS feels broken, we are under staffed and under funded - I buy most of my own therapy resources. Waiting lists are off the scale crazy, which is frustrating. However, I work within an amazing team, the work is really rewarding as you get to see the difference you are making to people's lives and I adore the kids I work with. Also, more practically, we get good annual leave entitlement and the pension is still considered to be decent.

I'm a nurse manager and would say that physio's and OT's are the most loved professions and are often the ones who make the real difference in treatment outcomes. Yes the NHS is in a poor state but your daughter will have wonderful colleagues, be doing a valuable job and if all else fails have a good a career practicing privately (I sae one recently who was amazing and cured my problem in 3 sessions.

To be very aware that current working conditions are awful and that the future of the NHS is uncertain but that people will always need HCPs.

I like many am plotting my way out of the NHS at the moment as I’m miserable but I still get a huge amount of satisfaction from patient encounters it’s just the rest of the crap that is bad.

I’m a consultant.

As a physio she'll always have the option to work privately rather than NHS so there is that.

Thank you for your replies, really helpful.

How will she manage any shift work with juggling a young family?
I never gave this a thought when I went into nursing at 18 but my experience of the inflexibility of the NHS to accommodate set working days meant I had to leave after 16 years.
Appreciate physio may be slightly more accommodating but tbh no amount of patient satisfaction makes up for missing many public holidays with young DC.

There always private …

I would say there are vast numbers of specialisms in physio, some of which will be much less affected by the emergency medicine crisis than others.

Plus of course the opportunities to work in private physio are also vast.

You tend to find that although Physio and OT do some weekend / on call working their shift pattern is a more standard 37.5, 8.30-4.30 job. So, although it is an immense workload and still stressful the work life balance is slightly easier to manage than other shift workers. Being an AHP is a really valuable role and there are so many specialities in Physio!

I am not a physio but have worked in the nhs for 25 years and am determined to hang in there as , for all its flaws, I still believe in healthcare that is free at the point of delivery . A lot of colleagues do 3 days nhs and then a bit of private work on the side.. I have never quite managed to do this and am still slogging away on full time nhs but this sort of nhs/private mix feels like a good option if the stress gets too much.. Physios are fantastic and have been highly respected in the teams I have worked in. I wish your daughter the best of luck.