What would make you consider working in NHS admin right now?

[Helpmethinkofasolution]

I have never known things as bad as this. Job getting no applicants, successful applicants regularly turning down jobs and then us having to go back to the start in terms of recruitment.
When I started in 2018 I remember there were 200 applicants for most band 4 jobs. Where are those people now and what is going to attract people to apply again?

Is it post Covid wariness of the NHS? Is it that we used to be flexible but now WFH jobs are even more flexible? Is it that the private sector is paying more? To my (possibly un- observant) eye, it doesn't seem like there are loads of admin jobs out there offering much more money. Unless it's that there is less responsibility with these private sector admin roles.

We used to get a good stream of working mums (generally) who would appreciate an interesting and flexible job with good sick pay, annual leave and ok pension but they are no longer applying.
This won't be used in any recruitment campaign, I'm just genuinely interested (and bloody worried that I'll be doing six peoples jobs forever!)

What’s a band 4 paid? I’m curious because I am looking around, I’ve lost track of my name changes but basically I’m stuck in a rut and dying of boredom. I’ve looked at NHS but there’s not a lot being advertised locally to me (council wide not just 3 miles or whatever). And the adverts are unfailing gobbledygook which often such it’s internal recruitment only.

@Doormatnomore 22k to 25k. There's increments so you have to wait three years to get a pay increase. Which is shit.

Similar issue in my public sector employer. We’ve advertised a very flexible part time post without success. Now there’s quiet mutterings about bankruptcy and the vacancy is likely to be pulled as a budget saving which is a bit annoying as we’ve tried to fill it!

@FartOutLoudDay yup same. Then the cycle repeats, lose staff, don't replace staff, more staff feel put upon and burnt out, leave and then those staff aren't replaced.

I know someone put off from an admin job in the large hospital near us due to the daily parking charge on site - think it was back to £5ish per day after a covid charging hiatus.

Applicant lives semi-rurally with no suitable public transport so car travel the only option. With the increase in petrol and a min £100 to park each month it was just too much out of the take-home pay.

We can't recruit admin in my NHS trust either its horrendous. Nor can we recruit medical staff. I don't know what we'll do if this goes on.
Its been like this since covid so I can only assume people don't want to work in hospitals. Maybe Brexit is also to blame, we used to get a lot more foreign candidates and we don't now.

@Fluffymule can I ask what sort of job she went for instead? We just lost out on a consultant due to parking (partly) so I know it's a big issue.

Are you listing unnecessary requirements? Are you advertising the flexibility? Are you actually advertising? Are HR passing on everyone who applies? Are you getting back to people quickly enough? Is it permanent? Is it fixed hours?

I loved my nhs job (not admin but not clinical), but it wouldn't have worked if I needed to work iyswim.

@TamSamLam this is part of the problem, it's all done externally. I ruddy hate the standardised job descriptions as they make the job sound like you're doing everything and yet nothing. There's so much waffle it is impossible for an applicant to work out what they're actually doing on a day to day basis which puts people off!

Don't think my hospital has this problem as I did apply for such a role and the advert was removed a bit sooner than advised.

To be accurate, Band 4s just got a very respectable annual increase (to be paid in September and back paid to April) of about 5% (sorry can't check exact amount but it was £1400). Increments and pay increases are different things. I agree with you that recruiting is difficult at the moment but being clear about Ts and Cs is important too.

@Helpmethinkofasolution Still an admin position, database type work, local IT/computer services firm on a business park (not that far from the Hospital actually) so free parking.

I know it seems a trivial issue, but it really did make a difference when she wasn't taking home a huge amount to begin with.

@Lysianthus 5% but having to work so much harder since covid. Our wards have never gone back to normal.

I work in the nhs in quite a senior role.

ive been in my job for two years. It’s been a nightmare, it was poorly designed.

ive completely reworked the service to be more efficient and cost less. This involves my job changing a bit, but the pay is the same. Manager v happy.

having done all the hard work to get us here, ‘policy’ says my ‘new’ job has to be advertised and I have to apply.

I cannot be arsed to be interviewed for my own job.

as a result, I’ll stay in my current job, being overpaid for what i do. They won’t be able to implement any of the changes, because I won’t vacate my post.

this Sort of system is why it’s broken.

I just had a look at the vacancy’s in my (admittedly rural and not hugely populated) nhs area. 14 admin jobs only 1 band 4 most band 2. Dunno if that’s a lot or a little. But they all had highlighted in red that they expect high demand and advert will be pulled once they reach a high volume. The band 4 didn’t actually say where it was based, which ok an email or call would clear up but it was worded suspiciously like you’d be hither and dither. also most ask for knowledge of clinical systems which are obviously unique to the NHS.

i know none of this is anything to do with OP but you asked. I also know none of it will get filtered through to the right people. I will look more seriously at applying though, if they can tell me where I’d be based.

@Doormatnomore I completely agree, we ask for stupid things which are not important. I came in completely new to the NHS and found it all pretty straight forward to learn. Attitude is much more important. Sorry to hear there's not more out there. I think the only band 2's in our trust are housekeepers, and they earn much more on the weekend (+50% on Saturday and +80% on a Sunday) which makes them come out on equal wages to a band 4.

A long shot, but is it advertising for people with graduate degrees as a minimum, full stop, for a job that actually requires A-C GCSE in maths and English, and on-the-job learning and training thereafter?

Sorry but how flexible can an NHS admin job be for working mums? It’s likely to be in office, office hours. The NHS are notoriously inflexible. The last trust I worked for had a 6 months wait from commencing in post to being able to put a flexible working request in, though that may have changed.
Im a nurse, I work for a company who carry out NHS work, basically privatised. I absolutely could not afford childcare for 2 children on a band 2/3/4 wage.

What would make you consider working in NHS admin right now?

Not a thing.

Did it before, and it was the most thankless, soul-destroying, unfulfilling experience of my entire career. It was ultimately responsible for the complete destruction of my mental health, and you couldn't pay me enough to consider it for any more than a fleeting second.

I've been working in 3rd Sector for years, and despite the paucity of resources, it's an absolute joy compared to NHS. My colleagues are diligent, motivated, reliable, competent, and fun to work with, all things that were pretty much absent in the NHS. There is no tolerance for shirking and laziness, which is also a complete contrast with my previous working environment.

@Maltester71

Your story is perfectly in keeping with the sort of endemic, institutional nonsense I saw time and time again in the NHS. My own department was cobbled together on the fly by people with no understanding of the role the department was supposed to fulfil. It was staffed by people shoehorned into positions purely because the bands matched that of their previous roles, with no consideration given whatsoever to whether these people were qualified to hold these jobs. It was utter chaos for years until the few diligent members parachuted in to rescue the absolute binfire managed to turn it around through sheer perseverance, while most of the original staff bumbled and stumbled along being more of a hindrance than a help, thanks to their monumental incompetence and laziness.

Senior management was only interested in climbing the greasy pole, not rocking the boat, and making life as easy as possible for each other, so endless incompetence and sheer bone idleness was never addressed, nobody was ever challenged for their piss-taking behaviours, and line management was given no support whatsoever with attempts to implement progressive change in the face of staff who were utterly, pig-headedly change resistant and would go out of their way to do what they could to sabotage any new policy or S.O.P. they personally disagreed with. The levels of pettiness over knowledge-hoarding were only matched by the simultaneous, and equally as infuriating refusal to take any responsibility whatsoever for anything deemed 'not my job'.

It was an utterly poisonous place to work in and I'll never do it again. There isn't enough money in the world to convince me.

Pension applications in NHS up 50% on last year. Suspect partly due to staff who stayed on over Covid and some because of Mccloud pension mess... But quite a few like me, very pissed off, burnt out, disillusioned and taking early retirement at 58.

Something wrong with wages in general. I had an admin-type job paying £20,500 in 2007, so 15 years ago. I’ve moved on in my career but I’m now on a career break and I see similar jobs to the one I had for not much more now.

Nothing at all.

A £22-£25k salary is abysmal for an adult. Apprentices in my organisation (most 18+ with little qualifications) are paid more.

We have the same problems trying to attract school staff. So, so different from a few years ago.

Pay is too low for the responsibility.

It was exactly the role I wanted. I applied for a lot of NHS admin roles after being made redundant from my job in compliance during covid. I wanted something part time, flexible and relatively secure as I was just returning from mat leave. I spent ages on my applications, tailoring each one, and had all the skills they were looking for but didn't hear back from any. I took a role as a GP receptionist and I received a number of offers so can't be a complete waste of space. Although I'm sure most would infer that means I'm only qualified to be a complete cow!