Absolute NHS Illogical Arseholes!!

[RufusInTheLibrary]

DH is an anaesthetist, he works like an absolute dog! I wouldn’t do it for a gold pig...but it’s been his dream.

Finished his training and went through hell to pass FRCA exam. Hundreds of hours and A LOT of money out of our pockets. But it would be worth it because you have to pass this exam to gain a registrar position. Right?

Queue Covid!

Rejected for the job in August because they didn’t hold the interviews. We know he would have gotten this otherwise.

Yesterday he was rejected again (despite having a higher score than any previous year acceptance score) because they decided nobody needed to pass that super hard and expensive exam anymore so literally everyone who otherwise wouldn’t have been eligible applied.

Not only that but they aren’t even willing to offer points for having passed the exam... so DH has spent the last 18 months of his life and over £1000 of our money for absolutely F* A**!!!

That exam was really hard to pass, a lot of trainees fell at that hurdle and DH spent his whole career gearing up to it. Now he’s losing out to people technically less qualified than him because they have random undergraduate degrees in different subjects.

We have a small DC it’s a nightmare and I feel so sorry for him.

I know the BMA have already protested about this and got nowhere but I could honestly cry for DH.

Something similar happened during the modernising medical careers fiasco in 2007. A “lost tribe” of more qualified junior doctors was the result - those who had spent ££££ on gaining MRCP or equivalent lost out due to a bottleneck of ST3 jobs.

The exam fees are tax deductible though so make sure your DH submits a claim to HMRC.

Sorry - he's a junior doctor hoping to get an anaesthetic registrar position? Or a registrar who's finished specialist training and looking for a consultant?
It sounds like he's looking for a reg job and doesn't have a training number yet.

I appreciate what you're saying. It's competitive, unfair, they are changing the goal posts yearly and the younger ones (who have less experience) sometimes seem to get the jobs simply because they've played the game better.

However it's simply a case of keep trying, or choose another specialty.
On the plus side anaesthetists are generally happy in their job, can pick their hours and their lists and are nice to work with and make a huge difference to their patients experience. So worth it in the long run.
And all the courses, professional fees, membership etc is tax deductable so make sure you're putting that through!!

Hang in there.

If I'm reading this correctly, your DH has had one interview, it's unfortunate he didn't get that job, better luck next time.

What a bummer! It must be so dispiriting to have put in all that effort and gained nothing from it.

It goes against the grain for me to say it, but he would he consider working in the private sector, where there's more flexibility and they don't have the financial constraints that the NHS has? They might value his qualifications more.

I accidentally pressed post instead of preview.

This type of stuff happens in every industry.

Your DH needs to start playing the game aka "networking" in order to secure roles at this level.

It's not fair & a pile of old poo.

He'll eventually get the job he wants/deserves, just has to play the long game.

Good luck

Similar with GP exams this year. Our daughter was dragged up to London to sit very expensive exams with 200 others from across the country. The day afterwards they cancelled and just went on portfolios for others.

ETA: someone I know had surgery (partial lobectomy) done privately and when they sent her a copy of the itemised bill, the anaesthetist's fee was £7k! He had shedloads of qualifications, the letters after his name took up loads of space.

I know it's a complex and dangerous bit of surgery, but that's a lot of money.

@NurseButtercup

I assume you’re not actually a nurse as then you’d know that ‘networking’ plays absolutely no part in securing a registrar position. Being good at your job barely plays a part. It’s all numbers and tick boxes on a faceless NHS IT system.

The fact that DH is well liked and good at his job is the only reason he got a trust grade role at his hospital In Feb! (When most of the roles given were awarded to overseas doctors and taken at their word on all the qualifications they claimed to have)

DH has had no interviews and through no fault of his own. He has been totally screwed over by changing goal posts and lowering of standards!

We have small DC and a mortgage and no security now. It’s hard to be like ‘oh yeah it’s fine’ about it all

I had some sympathy for you OP, then I read the nasty little comment in your last paragraph.

I assume from your post your hubby has a job just not the one he wants so surly thats security ok not the promotion but still not unemployed

And the racist comment at the end was not so nice they will check these foriegn doctors qualifications but if it doesn't go right for me let's blame it on johnny foreigner nasty

Don't vote tory is my answer.

I'd like to be able to reassure you that the exam and all the hard work cannot be ignored and would surely be very attractive on your DH CV but your last comment about the IT system sounds horrific.

The fact that DH is well liked and good at his job is the only reason he got a trust grade role at his hospital In Feb! (When most of the roles given were awarded to overseas doctors and taken at their word on all the qualifications they claimed to have)

So you are saying that the NHS Trust your Gas Man DH works for do not carry out due diligence on any potential appointments by checking their external qualifications?

I find that hard to believe.

@RufusInTheLibrary
That is so bloody unfair.

A good anaesthetist as PP suggested makes a heck of a big difference in how his or her patient feels afterwards.

I had one in his late 40's..extremely nice bloke.
You don't need to be struggling with passing exams when you have the power to sedate or worse! Bring on the exam passers, those who know the theory and practice of their chosen career.
Good luck to him.

Hang on sorry / in no way was that meant in a racially discriminating way! Some of the best experts in the country are from overseas and lots of the doctors who come to the U.K. are EU countries! One of my parents is an immigrant but they have filled out self assessments with all the qualifications and points they claim to have and non of it has been checked. At least this is what my friends who work in the NHS are telling me!

They don’t check the details of lots of the ‘point scoring’ stuff when candidates come from overseas because it’s time consuming and difficult!

I assume you’re not actually a nurse as then you’d know that ‘networking’ plays absolutely no part in securing a registrar position.

As a retired nurse, your naivety made me laugh.

The fact that DH is well liked and good at his job is the only reason he got a trust grade role at his hospital In Feb!

What was that you were saying about networking not being a thing?

Stop being so racist, btw.

Yes they check they have the relevant degrees/qualifications but no they don’t check that they did in fact complete X research or deliver Y amounts of teaching or do Z amounts of audits. But they gain points for all that stuff.

@RufusInTheLibrary
Oh deary....
This:

When most of the roles given were awarded to overseas doctors and taken at their word on all the qualifications they claimed to have

That isn't fair at all.

I have an 'overseas' surgeon and 'overseas' hospital doctors...They were good at what they did.

That really is an unnecessarily mean comment about overseas Staff.

I've worked in the nhs for 25 years .. my advice get out and go into private sector.
it's a toxic bullying environment

If I was you I wouldnt be listening to my friend they are not going to let someone un qualified start working as an anasthetic doctor .

@aprilanne

And the racist comment at the end was not so nice they will check these foriegn doctors qualifications but if it doesn't go right for me let's blame it on johnny foreigner nasty

It’s not racist, it’s fact, that a lot of medical jobs are given to overseas doctors. Not sure how that can be racist?

I know so many juniors who are in a similar situation, but the exam treadmill and desperate search for jobs has always been the same in the NHS as far back as I can remember (which is about 40 years).

One positive thing is that there are lots of locum jobs around.