If you work in NHS Admin could you help me please..

[Alrueb]

I used to work in Care until two years ago, when I developed a health condition (prolapse from childbirth and subsequent surgery) which means I now cannot - ever - lift more than 5kg and cannot be on my feet all day, although some being on my feet is okay. I probably shouldn't lift anything more than say 3kg regularly either. I've been told in no uncertain terms that I risk undoing surgery if I lift more than 5kg.

Anyway, I decided to re-train with a view to working in NHS Admin. I've finished a two year course in Medical Administration.

I've started to look at applying for these jobs, only to find the job descriptions say things like -
"Elements of bending and lifting (e.g. when producing documentation in bulk via photocopier, moving equipment, set up of meeting rooms etc)
Carrying files"

"Manual handling : lifting patient files"

For Ward Clerk - "Standing or walking for a significant part of shift"

What does this mean?

Do you lift anything heavy in your work?

I am really hoping this is just over-cautious wording.

I am so despondent now and worried about what to do next 😥😥

the job will say whether you need to travel by car

Case notes are heavy. Our ward clerk has a trolley and will bundle a load into that to push around. There is a fair bit of walking between departments at times. Nhs jobs do tend to be very busy. Perhaps admin elsewhere would be better suited for you?

Some people's files are huge. Seriously huge. I know an admin person who put her back out lifting one.

What about something like cancer team admin? I do this and the heaviest thing I lift is my laptop. Hybrid working so some days at home and some days at the hospital. No notes required as everything I work with is via laptop or Teams calls. Need to be good with all the hospital systems/programs and excel but nothing that you can't learn!

I think it would depend what roles you are applying for. I work in a community office with lots of different teams - District nurses, Therapy teams, Dieticians, podiatry, senior managers etc. And yes there might be some old paper notes to file away, or accepting deliveries of reams of paper but we have trolleys to use. There are a variety of roles, most of which don't involve any manual handling.

I actually have a colleague who has had similar surgery. We know she has reasonable adjustments so we help out if there ever is anything she shouldn't be lifting.

Just don’t go into medical records/health records, and you’ll be ok.

@MyCircumference I hope so. Some of the job descriptions were from 2013.

@Spacecowboys I would do admin elsewhere but I cannot find any jobs which do not require admin experience, except some GP receptionist roles. I did the medical admin course because it is the course which the NHS recognise and some of the people on the course were Band 2 Admin doing this course to get into Band 3. I wanted to remain in healthcare / helping people. Should have checked the job descriptions! I would consider other admin if I could get into it.

@mumda eeek. That's exactly the kind of lifting which would risk undoing my surgery

@Popplebop Thanks, that is very useful. Can I ask how you got into that please? Realistically I will have to enter at Band 2 or 3 at the most. My qualification is NC Level 6 Medical Administration and the only other work experience I have is years of Care and Retail work, which I cannot now get a reference from because it was pre-pandemic (the shop I worked in did not reopen after lockdown). Perhaps I could try getting some volunteer admin to better my chances.

@Wrongsideofpennines Thanks, that sounds okay. I will keep looking at roles. I looked at about 20 last night and panicked because they all described lifting. Can you get reasonable adjustments straight away?

@Tryingandfailingagain Thank you. Yes, it's looking likely due to info I've received on this thread, that Health Records and Ward Clerk roles are probably out, but that others may be do-able.

I would imagine you can, because you have a disability. So if you were a wheelchair user they couldn't just not shortlist you even if you were perfect for the job because that would be discrimation. It may be worth ringing the contact on some of the job adverts to discuss it a bit more.
I would avoid ward or clinic based roles personally, and maybe start off in something like Single point of access, any of the Allied Health Profressional teams, patient flow team, school nurses etc. They are all less likely to have heavy lifting.

@Wrongsideofpennines Thank you. Sadly, I don't think prolapse is classed as a disability, but I may be wrong on that. If not, it certainly should be. Hopefully it is covered. Thank you so much for the advice of where to look. My sister works as a Family Support Worker, I'll ask her if the Admin staff in her service do any heaving lifting.

Yes to not going for Health Records and Ward Clerk jobs that involve heavy lifting.

Reception work, although that has its own pressures. There are other admin roles that don't involve heavy lifting.

I would say avoid secretarial roles and health records, reception would probably be best or even the Booking Centre, just taking calls and making appointments

Yes and there's loads of NHS jobs. You're sure to find something suitable :)

I used to work in NHS admin and patient notes were very heavy to push on a trolley around the hospital and hospitals can be very large. Most hospitals now have patient notes computerised so no longer an issue.
I also used to order stationery and that is heavy to manage. Stationery would be delivered in a cage and had to be moved to the stationery cupboard. I had to regularly move boxes with 5 reams of paper and they are well over 5kg.
I have had prolapse surgery and to be honest I ignore the 5kg rule.