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!)

I think flexible as well as "family friendly" absolutely must be clarified as it can mean very different things in different industries.

@Helpmethinkofasolution I work in NHS admin in a band 2 post and would leap at the opportunity for a band 4 post.

I work from home in this post and would only consider this for future roles because of the way it works around family life.

Flexibility, a good team who are connected despite having never met (in my case) and the opportunity to progress within the sector are what I will be looking for in my next post.

I would quite like to go back go it although been many years as I do a very boring corporate bullshit job but it would mean cutting my pay in half and paying for parking so it's impossible.

I think some job adverts sound way to corporate and wanky and like you say people can't make head nor tail of it.

Done it to themselves to be honest! Either new jobs are for internal candidates, friends/relatives of, or perfect people. Serves them right for not getting to grips with making it to difficult to join.

I think we're going to need to think outside the box and have some admin based in the hospital and some based at home, if that helps get some applicants. The concern is what that would look like. For example, yesterday I was notetaking a clinical meeting, lots of different professions in one room. The computer in the room didn't work, the laptop wouldn't connect to the server. If I had been calling into the meeting from home I just wouldn't have been able to take notes. So that meeting would have been a complete waste of time in terms of evidencing that best interest had been assessed. The patient wouldn't have been provided with a written summary of their contribution and the outcomes. I don't think those asking for WFH roles realise how often this happens:

@NoEffingWay there are so many NHS jobs which could work remotely. For example procurement, recruitment, HR, legislative, quality and improvement, bed management. The problem is anything based in a hospital working with clinical teams, you really need to see the patient!

I’ve been thinking I’d like to move to the NHS from the Civil Service… My local hospital is a 15 minute walk away, rather than the 1.5 hours/£15 commute to my CS one, but I do only have to do it twice a week. I’m underpaid but treated well in the CS. Could the NHS be any worse for the same money?

Anyone moved from CS to NHS? At least I understand the strange job specs format!

I wouldn't apply for an nhs role now. There is so much work out there.. I'd go where you'd be valued and probably paid better, work in a nicer environment than an old run down hospital where they're still forcing people to wear face masks!

I was hospital admin before my youngest was born (so 14 years ago)
For me, now, looking for a pt job the issues are:
Pt is 22 hours or more (I need less)
Petrol costs
Staff Parking
It could end up using half my pay to get there and park.
How is that attractive?

Also, might not be there same everywhere but our local trust is so shambolic in getting back to people/communicating in general/losing paperwork etc... people have often got a new job elsewhere by the time they pull their finger out and get on with the recruitment process!

I would apply for a wfh admin role in a heartbeat!
I got a wfh role last year with CofE....except it wasn't actually the job advertised and was pretty poor. I declined. Employers shouldn't he able to lie in job ads and get away with it.

@CamoTeaLaLa I would say that it depends why you want to move jobs. I found I had a good work/ life balance as a band 3 but as a band 4 I regularly think about work in my free time. Nearly all my colleagues check their emails when they're on annual leave.
I'm mainly here to get experience for a second degree, but I have been saying that for three years. I suppose the main draw is that it is interesting and rewarding: I read other job descriptions and I get bored just reading them. We are genuinely changing lives. I think there's a bit of Stockholm syndrome for most NHS employees.
If I could find an interesting admin job for 30K I would be out like a shot but I'm yet to find any in the private or public sector.

I'm local government admin and work closely with health colleagues. The salary is similar to mine but they seem far more overworked than me and my workload is pretty high! Plus I get free parking at the office, can work from home, and my IT systems seem far more up to date. I mean, for the love of God why can't you accept encrypted emails? Why do I still have bloody post documents to you? It's ridiculous!

Reading some of the replies has really put me off wanting to work for the NHS.

I’m always checking the admin vacancies at my local hospital, often through curiosity, but I’d now think twice. I don’t think I’ve read a positive post!

I currently work in the private sector, have only recently had a pay rise (after 4 years), don’t have a great pension. I’m quite happy where I work though, quite a good bunch of people, quite flexible, I know the job inside out, can be stressful but that’s part and parcel of the role. Salary probably isn’t as good as the NHS, I’m probably selling myself short and I do need to approach my Employer about this, I think £12 an hour for an admin role in the area I live, is an accepted hourly rate though!

The admin job market has grown up and left the NHS behind. Most other places pay more. With wfh the pool of jobs to apply for has increased exponentially. The recruitment process is slow and there isn't much room for development and progression that is rewarded with pay.

I really wanted a job in the NHS (admin/ward clerk) but I knew I'd end up in ^this so decided against it. Also, what's happening generally in the hospitals at the moment is so awful I don't want to be part of it (I have a good non-NHS job that deals with people just coming out of hospital).

I think it's really hard to fill any job atm, weirdly especially the lower end, less skilled/qualified jobs.

DS was recently in need of work and was called 20 mins after submitting the application and offered the first job he applied for (retail).

I need kitchen assistants where I work (school) which is lovely family friendly hours, but we don't get applicants. Same for TAs. Teacher recruitment has been OK this year.

I think a lot of it is that there's plenty of this kind of work available and some is that the flexibility has traditionally gone alongside poor pay - people(women) have been prepared to accept poor pay to get school hours, but as you say, they don't need to anymore with so much wfh.

Part of it is also fewer women returning to the workforce when DC start school, but having gone back much earlier. If you've been a SAHM anything you earn is "extra" for the family. If you never gave up work you need a proper salary.

That said, I'd consider the NHS for the pension, sickpay, job security etc, which I think people forget about when they're just looking at pay. I had six months off sick last year and knowing that I'd be paid/my job wasn't at risk was hugely beneficial to my recovery.

@Moon22 thank you

@Helpmethinkofasolution I want to change jobs as I’m knackered and don’t want to do my extremely regulation heavy gig anymore! I am 48 and I’m tired. I think I’d like to plug away at something non-consuming for £22k tbh. Well, at least

…I think I do.

soz, got cut off as I can hear next door having sex ✌🏼

Pre-covid NHS band 4 admin was sought after as some Trusts I know changed the JDs and got jobs re-evaluated so they were B2 or 3.

My take on the NHS is that they think they are flexible but they aren’t. There was no flexi-time or if there was it was frowned upon if you came at 9:10. When I came into work at 9:15am grey from morning sickness I had numerous snide comments from colleagues asking when my start time was. I had already told them I had bad morning sickness and often had to stop on the way to work to throw up. Let’s not talk about the massive bullying issue the NHS has as well.

My one of my local Trusts is now advertising all roles as on-site. Pre-covid admin staff didn’t have laptops so they couldn’t wfh. Admin doesn’t need to be on site 5 days a week IMO. Who would pay to drive 10/20 miles to work, pay to park and sit in an office all day when you could work for a someone else and work from home and have flexitime?

Most I've seen have a stated requirement for some evening and weekend work which from my second hand experience with NHS rotas would be guaranteed to clash with my husband's rota for evening and weekend work.

NHS HR really shockingly bad and poorly organised. The process from completing application to interview is long enough. Being offered the role to start date is ridiculous. I know 2 people who were offered jobs. With 1, the pre employment checks took 7 months, the other 6 months. Both had their references and Id in place. Numerous chasing phone calls got no where. Both had applied, got and started other jobs in the meanwhile. The HR system needs a major overhaul.

I'm a new starter at band 2, with planned progression to band 3 once they've decided I'm not an idiot (this is my reading of the situation).

So far I'm really enjoying it. Nice team and excellent manager as far as I can see. (Early days, obviously). Some issues around training/supervision but much of that is to do with the health board (large, rural) and the team being over several sites, of which mine is the most remote. Also everyone is aware it's an issue and communication is good.

I'd been working self-employed, flexibly from home for some years and although I appreciate that most would prefer to move in the other direction, I am loving having a set routine and going to the office as work is no longer in my house!

I'd applied for several admin roles before this one and not got them but I am pretty sure band 3s tend to go internally and band 2 is the way in. Given that the progression for this role was set out in the advert I was happy to go for a short-term band 2 to get in.

A friend of mine says she's been trying to get into the hospital for some time but I suspect she's applying mainly for band 3s.

Parking is free but abysmal on site but there is a car park just out of town with a free park and ride bus to the hospital. You need a permit but it's free.

This is NHS Wales, which might make a difference.

Oh and I work flexi - forgot to mention that!

I did actually apply for an NHS admin position a while back. It was quite senior and I probably wasn't really qualified, but I didn't get the courtesy of any sort of response. That puts me off applying again.