To think staff in a hospital coffee shop should have their own priority queue?

[Thorilicious]

Just getting a coffee while visiting a relative in hospital. A few of the people in the queue are paramedics, nurses. I think they should have their own queue, so that they can be served first, so they aren't wasting their break queuing.
(I would have let them in front of me, but the queue only built up once I had paid.)

We share a teeny weeny patient kitchen with another ward for the ward hostess to work in, kettles and urns are no longer allowed so we use the patient tea machine to get a drink. Staff cannot use the patients fridge and the hostess is supposed to throw any staff or visitors food away. The microwave is still there if staff want to bring in food but its only really used at nights when the hostess is not around and theres no other options, the cold water machines were taken out years ago for infection control. Patients food is pre ordered and served plated up in a trolley with a few extra sandwiches, crackers and ice cream for late arriving patients or those who missed the main meal. Staff used to get leftovers from the meal trolley but thats a disciplinary policy now.
The qualified nurses and sisters homes where I trained were sold off and its now at least 500k for 1 bed flat, one student nurses home is still there, the other one was sold off and is used by the University international students now.

There is often a kitchenette area on the ward with loads of aggressive signs reminding you that the milk is only for patients and you're not allowed to keep your own food in the fridge.

Some ward sisters don't like doctors using the hot water tap or the staff room on the ward, as doctors aren't really seen as part of the ward. The room is seen as a nurses' area.

Doctors have to have a "mess" somewhere in the hospital, but facilities in most places amount to a cupboard with a few chairs in it, catering for every doctor in the hospital. And they pay for it (£10 a month here).

The staff canteens are really extortionate! They are the same as public canteen it's too expensive and hospitals are big places...so by the time you have walked and qued and sat down 30 minutes has gone.

I think it would just be better to put more staff on in a hospital coffee shop. I guess this applies to many many places.

The staff canteens are really extortionate!

I don’t know anything about the business side of staff canteens in NHS hospitals, but if it’s anything like the car parking, they are out to make money from the staff. (Imo, staff parking should be free, given staff are working unsocial hours) However, two DC have worked for a major supermarket, and pre Covid, the staff canteen was considerably cheaper than the restaurant for customers!

If supermarkets could do that, then the NHS should be able to - to keep its workforce working efficiently!

@Tryingtokeepgoing god so much of what you've said is just ridiculous.

Most staff do not have access to kettles/coffee etc

Do you know how much it costs the NHS in missed appointments!

The reason why doctors run late is 99% because the patient turns up late

So ignorant

Incredible the sheer number of posters who believe that there are facilities available for NHS staff. I worked for a number of hospitals over 12 years and the few staff rooms that were available were eroded down bit by bit. In my penultimate NHS job, we did not have a staff toilet (had to use the public ones which were always disgusting), no staff room to eat in either. Just a kettle and a (filthy) microwave. Eating in the department was not allowed because there was a mouse problem but the coffee shops (understandably) insisted you buy from there to eat there. End result is nowhere to sit and eat.

My most recent role (where I worked through COVID) had a small staff room with microwave and hot water tap but it seated 10 without social distancing and was to be shared between more than 100 staff members on site each day (more when you include those who were able to wfh). So not enough space and it was closed to us all. All hospital coffee shops also closed, offices not large enough to accommodate with social distancing so once again, nowhere to eat. And that is food that we brought in from home.

I am thankfully out of NHS now but it is no surprise to me that we won't have a NHS left with opinions like @Souquet. They are haemorrhaging staff like crazy and yet people still want to remove the few benefits the minority of staff get

That's bloody horrendous.

After 20 years of almost weekly visits to hospitals with my now late husband, I think it’s a bit rich to say my perfectly valid views are ignorant. Do you realise how much patient is wasted with the ridiculous approach of giving 10/12 people the same appointment time so they all turn up at the beginning of a 2 hour session, just so the staff can then see them in the order that suits them? That’s great if you’re the consultant, but wastes about 30 hours of patient (on the basis that half of them have someone with them) time. But that’s okay, because doctors are so important ;)

Except it’s self defeating, because now patients know a 10 am appointment means they’ll be seen sometime between 10 and 12. So, no need to turn up bang on time. Which is fine if it’s one of the 10, but it’s not. Soon they all realise how the system works. So none of them turn up at 10. And the doctors then blame the patents for being late! They’ve created a culture where turning up late is inevitable…. The system is to blame, but because you can’t criticise the system, it’s now the patents fault for not sacrificing their own valuable time at the altar of the NHS!

If the mainly outsourced private companies running the in hospital catering, Costa coffees etc thought that a priority queue for staff would make them more money that the current situation then they’d do it. But, they need to run an efficient and profitable business, so they put the customer first…the customer in the case of a hospital being the patient…

I recently let a care assistant go in front of me, she was actually shocked and said she wished there were more folk like me. Breaks are short enough.

Agree as a regular patient I should wait

I had an appointment at 9am with a consultant. Due to worries about traffic I was there 30mins early. When I walked into the waiting room (for 4 consultants), mine already had a sign up saying he was running 50mins late. The nurses and consultants who were there were making fun/light of the fact he was NEVER on time because he chose not to be ie he liked his mornings at his pace and bugger to everyone else!

The hospital I work in (quite large) only has a staff canteen open 08:00 - 17:30.... So, outwith those hours, it's the vending machines, or the slightly grotty Costa, which is open until 22:00. Overnight, you're on your own with the A&E vending machines..... 😣

Mm, all the hospitals (thats five around the northwest and three in the midlands) I have frequented have had a canteen, hospital run ...

Some volunteer run, some not, some subsidised for all customers, some just for staff.

Some of those hospitals also had a chain cafe/coffee shop, usually near the front doors in a nicer area.

I can't see the chain coffee places sorting out skipping staff ahead of other customers, they are going to end up pushing some customers back over and over and certainly in my nearest hospital, many of them aren't capable of standing up long! Most staff use the click and collect apps anyway now.

@WiddlinDiddlin agree plus patients are unwell so for people or staff to go before them isn't right.

The main issue is the coffee shop is poorly staffed sometimes there's only 1 person to do the till and drinks!

They need 3 people as it gets V busy

I disagree. We get enough abuse already without jumping the queue. I would rather bring my own!

The patients and their families are often in a rush/in pain/in a panic.