To want to work for the NHS

[alienbaby]

I know it's hard and stressful with insane hours but whenever I have been in a hospital its seems like staff have amazing camaraderie. Its like they are their own family or community. Do people who work for the NHS feel that way?

And to answer your question OP, I’m on my way out and wouldn’t recommend it, I’d now be really worried if one of my children expressed an interest.

I have worked in the NHS for nearly 20 years now, in a few different non clinical roles. My experience has been good overall, but agree it’s all about who you work with, your colleagues will make or break you. I agree that you will likely experience some shitty behaviour from senior staff. I have found that NHS clinicians are largely obsessed with the hierarchy and clinical grade/band. For example team leaders in a contact centre insisting on being titled senior charge nurses, despite not working on a ward or indeed in a hospital, but this demonstrates their band. I just find that weird. But as I said, I’ve had a good experience with great colleagues and mostly good managers,

I worked for the NHS for 7 months when I finished my masters in a non clinical role (medical secretary). It was terrible! A few people were lovely, but the awful ingrained bullying that I witnessed across several teams was just horrific. It seemed very widespread across the hospital and management just moved horrible people around without tackling issues. I ran as fast as I could from NHS and I will never work for them. (Love NHS in general, but as an employer I saw them behave terribly towards my victimised colleagues). RUN.

I work on a NHS psychiatric ward and my colleagues are great, we get along most of the time and they are like family, but I have also found great colleagues in other jobs as well so not sure it is unique to the NHS.

Dont bother OP - immediate work colleagues are understanding and supportive of the chaos and trauma of the job - the verbal abuse, spitting, biting etc. It's a 'in a sinking ship together' mentality at the moment. The managers are completely oblivious and there a real discord between clinicians and managerial roles

I work in the NHS.. I started out in a band 5 Admin role, now moved into a band 6 post. I've been redeployed twice in the time during the pandemic.
It's hard, really hard.. Watching the clinical staff be on their knees, exhaustion, patients not being able to have visitors. I would really hope you're emotionally resilient if you want to work in the NHS.
I'm about to be redeployed again to commence the mass vaccination programme for our Trust.

@alienbaby

I would love to contribute to the NHS and help look after people but I don't have any science skills to retrain in a medical profession. What is the NHS lacking in terms of non medical staff? I did think about retraining in OT.

Go for training as an OT - we’re dual trained so can work in mental or physical health settings with everyone from children to end of life care. OTs work in the NHS, Social Services, schools, prisons, charities, private sector etc etc. Loads of opportunities to change sectors and roles during your career if you need a change. I love working as an OT, finding out what is important to my patient and supporting them to achieve their goals and lead a purposeful and meaningful life. I think in “caring professions”, there is often staff camaraderie, we’re people who like people and who care about those we work with. Managers can have very different pressures and have sometimes risen up through clinical banding into management role without being offered any leadership training. That culture is now changing with things like the Mary Seacole leadership programme etc though. Working in the NHS is tough, there are benefits though and knowing that you’ve made a difference to someone is what keeps me in work. Please come over to the dark (green) side and think about becoming an OT!

I love my NHS team, they are absolutely stars!

No.
I worked for a decade in 2 different Hotel Service roles.
You will be good if your face fits. Most people don't fit in.
I did try n train as an HCP... you get eaten alive as a student. I used ti go to the changing room in absolute tears, and see student nurses etc there in a similar state.

I don't work for the nhs anymore but I did for 2.5 years and I have fond memories of that time. The team I worked with were absolutely amazing, there were some pricks there but you expect that anywhere. I left due to the long hours and low pay (and I also wasn't qualified in the area so couldn't progress further) but I think of that job and the people often even though it's been years! I have never come across people with such a good work ethic before or since. You will be expected to work extremely hard, it is exhausting and gruelling and the job I was in was also physically tiring, but the payback is immense.

I work in a therapy team and would echo others - very close knit, family like bond with my crew. Therapy is the often unseen backbone of the NHS when everyone is always talking about doctors and nurses.

@Fluffycloudland77

It’s not camaraderie it’s shared trauma.

Absolutely this. I would never dissuade anyone from working for the NHS but I certainly don’t want anyone I love to join. It is a highly toxic, mismanaged organisation in its last gasps.

Colleagues are lovely. Management generally appalling.

Yes. We are a family.

I worked in the NHS for 10 years. We had a very high turnover of staff. I loved the work, but highly stressful, awful management and some awful people. I did meet some really lovely people but I definitely didn’t feel valued there at all. I felt really sad when I left but I’m much happier in my new role with truly lovely people. I would say there is some banter but it definitely isn’t like that all the time. I don’t think now would be a great time to join. I’d look elsewhere personally. They will work you to the bone.

Depends on the team and the health trust I think. And what job you do.

Some roles the pay is poor with little room for progression if you don’t hold certain qualifications.

Most wards/teams I’ve worked for have been great but one team I worked for was horrible- line managers taking advantage of annual leave stuff, blatant favouritism, bullying, bitching. It was really terrible and there wasn’t much we could do because each department t is very much run by their manager rather than the whole hospital if that makes sense.

There’s a lot of people in management who want the perks of being manager without having to do the hard work and there’s a lot of people competing to “work their way up” that don’t actually give a shit about the job.

No. Don't do it. I would never recommend anyone work for the NHS. There is a lot of racism, bullying and bitchyness. And that's just the managers! People will step on you and stab you in the back to get their way or to make themselves look better. My best friends I've met through work, we have a lovely team actually. But the wider department is full of bullying arseholes with a superiority complex.

If you are t bothered about the money and genuinely want to help people you will live it, but if you want to feel appreciated all the time and feel like you really earn what you deserve I’d look elsewhere. You have to be in it heart and soul or it will destroy you

None patient facing is much less stressful

I left my non-clinical job in a hospital earlier this year. In my experience, the camaraderie is lower down the food chain.
High up, the managers have been there for years, since leaving school or university. They’re set in band 7/8 positions and they are fucking lazy. They don’t give a shit anymore because they’re in a steady job for life and they’ll retire with a good pension. These managers are not needed. They don’t bring anything to their teams or colleagues. Our manager couldn’t even make up a weekly rota, she was that shit. Also a lot of hierarchy with the banding system. Lower bands generally treated like shit by higher bands and biomedical scientists who think they’re Gods gift to Earth.

We were dealing with record number samples, but there was no thank you or well done. They had a millions of pounds government contract but didn’t see that money being used wisely. It’s just a shambles.

The place was toxic. Very bitchy, loads of berating, clock watching when you went on break.

I don’t know what it’s like for clinical teams, but I work in research now, and I’m so much happier. Would never go back into the NHS unless it was a higher band than 7 and not under anyone else.

I started working for the NHS in an assistant practioner role, that is quite niche, at the start of the year.

I really enjoy it. Definitely the nicest team I have ever worked in, maybe it's to do with the core values?

I also enjoy the role/ that I am providing a valuable service to the public.

Obviously this is just my personal experience.

@dustandfluf

No. Don't do it. I would never recommend anyone work for the NHS. There is a lot of racism, bullying and bitchyness. And that's just the managers! People will step on you and stab you in the back to get their way or to make themselves look better. My best friends I've met through work, we have a lovely team actually. But the wider department is full of bullying arseholes with a superiority complex.

I’ve found this. Love my actual role and the general team, but management seems to attract absolute psychos who think that now they are important they can treat everyone with very little respect and do everything they can to get out of doing the “shit jobs”

I hated it. Soo much wasted time and resources. Every time anyone binned something unused and sealed I wanted to scream ‘ you pay for that out of your taxes’
There was absolutely no consideration of waste/cost.
And the mandatory fire safety course tipped me over the edge.

They’re set in band 7/8 positions and they are fucking lazy. They don’t give a shit anymore because they’re in a steady job for life and they’ll retire with a good pension.

This! 100% this

We have a lot of management making decisions on our behalf and not even asking the tram what we think or how it would affect our way of working. They do not give a crap because it doesn’t affect them

If you specifically want to work NHS, make sure you're in a team that doesn't go out to tender. I'm third sector and my organisation have taken over in various areas over the last few years. Its the nature of the beast but a lot of people don't seem to realise they could be TUPE'd put.