To refuse to work with incompetent colleague

[Vanillateas]

I have recently gone back to work after maternity leave and I have been out with a woman who started when I was off. She has been working 3 months.

She is absolutely rubbish, she goes and does things I've already done but does them badly so I have to do them again, in the meantime tasks aren't done at all coz she's going round doing stuff I have done. She doesn't listen to me. I ask her politely 3 times to bring me something, she says ok in a minute. I have to speak sharply and then I worry this makes me look bad.

She constantly complains she is ill, putting on this tiny weak little voice and refusing to talk to anyone and saying she is in too much pain. She complains about the job to clients, saying that she is being asked to do too many hours or that she hasnt got enough hours or they asked her to cover a shift and she has no privacy.

Everyone complains about her but I always get stuck with her and I get so fed up of running round doing EVERYTHING as she hasn't even got the most basic grasp on the job!

is she your pa? Why can't you get your own stuff?

Pengggwn yes. In the context of doing paired work, most people work as a team. So for example, if I am lifting i then need the equipment to put it down on. Most people would just bring the equipment over. Obviously she's still quite new so 'could you please bring that over" is fine. Then you say it again twice more. Then you have to shout to get her attention. It's not me being bossy just I physically can't do a two woman job as one woman.

Tell your manager, in boring detail, using specific examples. Not 'she repeats my work' but 'on Wednesday morning I did x. She did it again, but she did Y instead of Z, which meant I had to redo it'. Start now while she's presumably still on probation.

Before lifting you should plan your route and have the place prepared to put it down- manual handling 101

Why are you lifting things and then looking for the equipment needed to put it down? You should organise this before lifting

Because it's people we're lifting Mum

Some of the homes don't have adequate room so we have to use the lifting equipment then place the chair under the person. That's why it's a two woman job. As it is people are up on stand aids and they can't stand for long and she's wandering around looking gormless and I am saying 'please put the wheelchair under her ... please get the wheelchair ... we need the wheelchair NOW!"

I've told my manager. She agrees but we are desperate for staff so nothing's happening. It's makeing me so stressed.

Because it's people we're lifting Mum

Patient manual handling has that rule too...

Because it's people we're lifting Mum

Patient manual handling has that rule too...

YANBU, and she shouldn't be complaining to the clients. Start keeping a diary, and warn your boss that if you do end up leaving it could be constructive dismissal.

mum it doesn't really apply but it's my fault for not explaining. If we are transferring someome from a bed to a wheelchair or a lounge chair to a commode the hoists are big and cumbersome. We have to get the patient onto them then one lifts and the other puts what they are sitting on under their bum. Only colleague doesn't do it.

ok. This is something you need to address with your manager, but I'm going to guess they are not going to do much about it. Suggest she needs more training.

Can you guide her more? Explain before the task what you expect of her and step by step talk her through it. If she goes to do something else " you need to do x, you need to stand here etc" Treat here like a child.

A Frustrating situation for you.

Thanks. I have done so but she just doesn't seem to listen or argues with me about tiny things, like I might say 'you left that door open and she says 'yes well I could not see because the light was not working, why is the light not working'

One of my friends is a student nurse and works full time at hospitals / care homes for her course. She was telling me about inept colleagues like yours, that are incompetent to the point where patient care diminishes as all the hard work can’t be left to her/one colleague

She had colleagues who would do their best to avoid the ‘gross’ tasks such as bathing/dressing, do 0 paperwork, would openly be rude and condescending to patients and argue with other staff when asked to help out. However when she spoke to management about this all they could really say is that they’ll have a word, but as they’re desperate for staff nothing else would actually happen

I guess what I’m saying is I can sympathise with your work and see how she is a detriment on the job, but I can also see management not actually doing much to help

That's exactly whats happening!

Start leaving a paper/email trail with your manager about your concerns,

Not safe is it, for you or service user
Where is your union? Get health and safety assessment done
Put your complaint in writing to your manager and copy their manager, owner, inspector, regulatory body......
A friend lost two teeth after using a hoist without proper support, it's no joke

I really sympathise OP. We have someone like this at my work, even the little voice putting on which I find manipulative! She is always ill or can't come in on time or has an appointment so has to work from home. Management do nothing. It's painful!