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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my current work situation in the NHS is an absolute joke *MNHQ tweaked title at request of OP*

266 replies

MooreFoolYou · 08/09/2020 12:15

Props to all NHS workers in the areas that were hit hard by Covid, I'm not denying for a second your hard work. What annoys me, is that hospitals in areas that haven't been affected are barely running and it's just a joke.

I work in a hospital that covers a large county, we've had 3 confirmed Covid cases. Ever. Yet almost all 'non essential' departments are still shut. Deployment has ended, as it's just not needed. Covid is not impacting us at this time. I have no work to do, as my department is shut, yet still I come in everyday. I'm literally coming in to sit in the office reading a book or even watching Netflix sometimes. There's loads of us that have nothing to do! You walk on to a ward and there's 12 nurses just twiddling their hands.

Why are non essential departments still closed when there is nothing else to occupy our time? Can the NHS really afford us to just bloody sit here? It's been two months of this! Why are patients having non emergency surgeries cancelled, why are non urgent referrals being postponed indefinitely, why are we turning people away to sit here with nothing to do?

I'm just fed up of it! I'm paying someone to look after my child whilst I do absolutely nothing. I've been told I can't work from home as the cost of getting me a laptop is too high, so I must come in everyday to just be here. With no work. Zero. What is the point!

OP posts:
Dominicgoings · 08/09/2020 18:32

@SpuriouserAndSpuriouser

I was recently speaking to a doctor recently who had said he has dealt with more incidents from people wearing masks than anything remote to covid.

What a load of balls! 😂

Balls with bells on. This has actually cheered me up 😂😂😂
TeaOneSugar · 08/09/2020 18:39

That's not the case where I work at all, it's all about catching up and getting waiting times back down, it'll be winter before we know it with all the pressure that brings even without Covid.

SaltyAndFresh · 08/09/2020 18:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Stephenfrylust · 08/09/2020 18:59

I've worked throughout the pandemic in a non covid frontline department and it's business as usual here and has been for the majority of time. We have worked flat out and my head is spinning leaving work....

I don't know anyone sitting around twiddling thier thumbs.

Bargebill19 · 08/09/2020 19:00

My fear is that next year, an accountant will look at the nhs figures for patients and spending, and say “service x,y and z haven’t been needed - so shut them”. Whilst ignoring the reason some services aren’t being used is because no one can access them due to management say so and government waffle.
Once services are lost, they are next to impossible to reinstate. A back door way of reducing nhs services or doing away with the nhs all together?

DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon · 08/09/2020 19:01

Where abouts are you in the uk OP

Because looking at hospital trusts covid deaths I cant find any with 3 or less that would have an a&e department?

rosiethehen · 08/09/2020 19:05

You aren't still believing that the NHS is actually there to treat patients do you?

The NHS has entered its post patient phase. People can't actually expect treatment lol. The thought of it 😆

Dominicgoings · 08/09/2020 19:09

@DishRanAwayWithTheSpoon

Where abouts are you in the uk OP

Because looking at hospital trusts covid deaths I cant find any with 3 or less that would have an a&e department?

You don’t say? 😉
Dominicgoings · 08/09/2020 19:12

4 haematology inpatients died this week in a hospital in Northern Ireland.
7 others are seriously ill.

The highest level of inquiry/witch hunt to identify which member of staff is the source of the infection.

But yeah. Lets get back to business. These people are collateral damage.

PullTheBricksDown · 08/09/2020 19:13

@Dominicgoings what you do is admirable and it is appreciated by many, genuinely. But..

And crap like this post? Yeah. Bullshit. And more than likely made up.

So all of us who've posted stories on here about the shortcomings of the NHS during these last months, we're all liars and whingers, are we?

OP has said she'd rather be working. She would rather be helping you out given the chance. That's what's so wrong about this.

Katharinablum · 08/09/2020 19:21

@PullTheBricksDown she can help if she's nothing to do. If clerical she can ask to be temporarily deployed to the medical/surgical wards or A/E which are indeed busy. She can help on wards as a housekeeper which again doesn't require months of training. She could even contact her 3rd tier manager to query the situation but no she writes a post on social media decrying her employer.

tortillachipsanddips · 08/09/2020 19:46

I work in the NHS and very interested in knowing what departments are closed?

The NHS is working really hard to restore services and in our area we have no closed services.

The nhs is working so hard to restore services and ensure we are prepared for winter and any potential further Covid waves.

I have close friends who have had non urgent operations since Covid and my extended family have diagnostic tests, GP appointments both face to face and phone appointments

It's really sad people bash the NHS and only focus on the negative - what about the amazing things the NHS does and patients saved or treated every day ? I feel so proud to work for the NHS and yes it's not perfect but pretty much everyone I know that works there actually cares about patients and making a difference because trust me we are not there for the money

Anon9990 · 08/09/2020 19:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

The3Ls · 08/09/2020 19:59

Paediatric speech therapist. Fully up and running have been for several weeks. Some via telehealth but lots face to face in PPE. I have worked flat out through out supporting virtually initially them preparing to reopen. Now hot and uncomfortable in PPE and having to do all the cleaning in between patients. Trust me lots of us are not watching Netflix!

notanoctopus · 08/09/2020 20:01

Hi OP, that is awful. What is the point in you even being in and why can't they open up services? What a waste of resources when people are needing treatment

toodlepipsqueaks · 08/09/2020 20:05

I think it must be hugely variable by hospital and of course also by department within each hospital.

I was due to have a diagnostic test back in February and never heard back. Whereas I saw the doctor for an unrelated issue last week and have already received an appointment letter for a couple of weeks away from the same hospital. I thought the first delay was crazy long but I'm equally surprised to be seen so quickly for the second issue.

LemonadeFromLemons · 08/09/2020 20:12

Please contact a Newspaper with your story. The reality of what’s happening across the country to the NHS needs to be corroborated by experiences like yours and published.

tortillachipsanddips · 08/09/2020 20:21

@LemonadeFromLemons

Please contact a Newspaper with your story. The reality of what’s happening across the country to the NHS needs to be corroborated by experiences like yours and published.
Really?

How about the thousands of patients that have been seen and treated ?

Tappering · 08/09/2020 20:28

It's really sad people bash the NHS and only focus on the negative - what about the amazing things the NHS does and patients saved or treated every day ? I feel so proud to work for the NHS and yes it's not perfect but pretty much everyone I know that works there actually cares about patients and making a difference because trust me we are not there for the money

@tortillachipsanddips I've said this before, but it's incredibly unfair to suggest that anyone who criticises the NHS is "bashing" it. Would you tell one of Ian Paterson's victims that they should not speak up about their experiences, and instead focus on the good things the service does?

The NHS is a fantastic resource, staffed by many hard working and dedicated people. Unfortunately, things can go wrong. Sometimes people aren't treated fairly or with compassion. Sometimes they have poor experiences. Do those people not have a right to share their views?

One of the things I find really tiring about these types of thread, is that there are always NHS staff who take the criticism personally. And who seem to think that a patient who has experienced poor treatment or outcomes, shouldn't talk about it.

Original poster
MooreFoolYou · 08/09/2020 20:36

[quote Katharinablum]@PullTheBricksDown she can help if she's nothing to do. If clerical she can ask to be temporarily deployed to the medical/surgical wards or A/E which are indeed busy. She can help on wards as a housekeeper which again doesn't require months of training. She could even contact her 3rd tier manager to query the situation but no she writes a post on social media decrying her employer.[/quote]
If you read my posts you'd see that no deployment is available, the hospital isn't busy enough, anyone who was deployed at the beginning of the pandemic was pulled back months ago and the scheme is not in operation in our hospital.

If you read my posts you'd see that I have contacted management on multiple occasions asking for work, flagging the fact there is nothing to do, requesting to work from home and have been told they are aware, that they know it's boring but to sit tight, that the costs associated with setting us up on the network and providing laptops is too high to authorise us to work from home, that deployment is not an option.

I know it's more fun to skip the facts and go straight to arguing, but it's wasted breath as it adds nothing to the discussion.

OP posts:
GeishaInCroatia · 08/09/2020 20:39

Why are non essential departments still closed when there is nothing else to occupy our time?

It’s almost as if some NHS staff don’t like patients, or see them as the enemy. Or don’t like their jobs and will do anything to not to do them. Bit like some teachers.

Motormouthvan · 08/09/2020 20:46

Sounds a bit like North Devon District Hospital?!

YummyJamDoughnut · 08/09/2020 20:47

I work on a ward, and apart from a few weeks in April at the start of lockdown, it's been business as normal. A+E has been just as busy, again with just a couple of weeks grace.
I'm sure that once things DO open back up, most places that were semi-closed will have a massive backlog to clear though.

YummyJamDoughnut · 08/09/2020 20:51

*I work in the NHS and very interested in knowing what departments are closed?

The NHS is working really hard to restore services and in our area we have no closed services.

The nhs is working so hard to restore services and ensure we are prepared for winter and any potential further Covid waves*

That's definitely the case with ours, too. We have a small cottage hospital in our trust that is used for rehab normally, which has been converted to the oncology ward (to isolate the vulnerable patients as it's all side rooms there), but otherwise the trust is pretty much back to business. Almost all services are running as normal.

torn2020 · 08/09/2020 20:56

I suspect this will change very (very!) soon. Trusts have been told now that unless they get back to a set level of recorded activity that their funding will be cut - if that message hasn't trickled down from finance and the execs then it will do soon.

Financially, the last few months have been weird for the NHS because they had a guarantee that their costs are covered regardless, but that's now switched and they'll lose money if they're not seeing patients.