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’ve applied for loads of admin band 2/3 jobs at my local health trust, who are always advertising, and never hear anything back. Why is that?

It's pay. I had a quick look at posts in our local hospitals, large northern city.
A&E admin, including reception duties, shift pattern including nights, weekends, Bank Holidays. £18, 879 to 19,918, no mention of any shift enhancements.
Ive been to our local A&E on numerous occasions... Not a chance.

Yep sorry NHS pay is not competitive, at all.
Please do stop kidding yourself. Anyone on the private rent ladder, it is impossible to accept such a poor wage, why bother going for it?

I have a home life set up that I could take the shitty wage. Most people don't. It was the thought of two days interviews for 14k that out me off. Sorry folks that's not worth it.

I took a b4 job last year and left after 3 months to earn 30% more and not be nearly worked to death.

Expectations are incredibly high, work load is off the scale, it's stressful, not a very nice environment and the pay a lot less than market rate.

Private sector has much more to offer atm with comparable pensions, annual leave and flexible working, the 3 main things which used to make the NHS attractive.

I'm really not sure what the answer is, I know my old position is still vacant and I couldn't fill the B3 roles that I was recruiting for at the time either.

Competitive with what?

And it will be the pay

You're a bit odd for thinking otherwise

The charity I work for has been trying to recruit for a hazardous role with a lot of risk and responsibility.

27k. In London. You can earn more dog walking.

I keep raising the low salary and high risk to management, but it falls on deaf ears.

I have worked in NHS admin for 22 years and I would say it's the worst that it's ever been. So would I recommend it to anyone, definitely not. Pension used to be a big benefit but they have changed it so much over the years I actually wonder why I'm still paying in. Only decent thing is annual leave/sickness entitlement. And I agree the adverts are ridiculous.

The problem is, they can’t raise admin pay unless they raise all pay.

there is some quite interesting stuff going on with clinicians just walking away to work privately. I’ve never seen so many leaving. I know one team where 3/4 clinical staff have left or are considering it.

I work part time in both the nhs and private sector. I’m band 7. My full time pay in the nhs would be 45k, however I earn 61k for 3.5 days a week by combining nhs and private work.

I WFH for my private work. I mean, how do they expect to keep staff?

I always find it amusing how the managers on £50,000+ find it 'surprising' how their 'competitive' pay package of £22,000 isn't snapped up with waves of applicants...

Clearly it wasn't 'competitive' enough for them to consider that career.

It's always rich people grumbling that poor people won't accept half their wages and make or save them money.

I see at the Tory conference in Eastbourne today legions of wealthy old people and business owners grumbling they have no applications now for their minimum wage jobs. It must be awful having no one to keep screwing over...

Is your private work admin? Sounds like you earn a very decent top up salary. Are you able to share what you do and how you got into it? Thanks

Ok I haven't read all of this but isn't admin band 2?

But I'm taking admin as in receptionists.

I'm band 4 doing what is widely accepted as a band 5 role. I'm postgrad level educated. Just not quite in the right area for what I do. I earn peanuts but I love it.

Sorry but my experience of people who’ve applied for NHS admin are workshy hypochondriacs who fully intend to make full use of their sick leave. It’s almost impossible to get sacked once you’re in.
The salary is so poor that people just feel entitled to take the piss

When I worked in the public sector there were many members of staff who took the piss regarding sick leave. DH has it now where he works, those same type of people also took the piss regarding Covid! It was made extremely easy for them to take time off with 100% pay!

Now I work in the private sector the difference is amazing, piss taking doesn’t happen, if you’re off, you don’t get paid so guess what, hardly anyone on long term sick leave, or taking advantage.

If I were looking for a job at the moment I'd probably be put off applying for admin jobs in the NHS because I've had no luck in the past, despite have years of admin experience, so it'd feel a bit futile. A lot of the admin jobs ask for specific qualifications like an NVQ in business admin or the ECDL. I'm not taking qualifications for a job that pays £22k, especially when I know all the course material from previous jobs or just from using computers in my spare time.

I have only ever seen public sector organisations ask for stupid stuff like the ECDL. It really limits the applicants as the vast majority of experienced admin assistants do not have such qualifications, but they've been doing the job potentially for 20 years and would be great at it.

HintOfVintagePink you don't represent me. No sick in 5 years (last for hysterectomy for 2 tumours of which I had not a day before the surgery) and my team are pretty much in unless genuinely unwell. I like my job as I can work from home half the week, have good holidays and flexibility and I enjoy it. And I'm band 4 admin nhs estate's

Our trust has started to look at this. Excluded many able candidates without degrees. Most jobs just need a good level of literacy not a bloody degree.

Also most new staff are taken on fixed term contracts have to pass a probation period and can’t take the piss with sick leave

I’m admin band 4 in Scotland. Here It’s currently approx 24-26k rounded up, and with the proposed 5% (haven’t heard if this has actually been accepted yet) it would go up to just over 27k. I live rurally and that is a really good salary for admin but the band 4 positions are like gold and generally go internally first. The few remaining full time ones get slashed to part time hours or downgraded in some way once someone leaves. We still get a lot of applicant s for the posts but I think what puts most people off is the workload expected once in it.

I'd love to know where all these apparent jobs are that pay around 25 to 30k that I see referenced in the thread for 18+ people or 'apprentices' with few skills or qualifications

My OH is only on about 27k, works for a local authority in central London, pays a massive amount in commuting costs. He doesnt have a degree, is near retirement age, was looking for jobs around 10 years ago to move away from that job but couldnt get anything. He has no specific qualifications but would love to work more locally. Just cant find anything even if he lowered the income a bit to take account of the lowered transport costs.

Wages around here for admin work or equivalent are around 18k if you're lucky.

Public sector recruitment suffers when it's a candidate's market.

yy to managers constantly fiddling with job grading and putting permanent contracts into temporary ones to make sure that the entire department halves in size and feels deeply unsettled and useless because they are doing a much worse job.

Feeling disaffected right now. I worked over 12 hours today - I'm paid for 7.5 - and I am feeling worried about my performance because the job feels impossible but I don't know if it's actually impossible or im just no use.

If an applicant for one of our many vacancies rang for an informal chat at the moment, I could not make the department sound other than dire.

The reason Ive not been applying for NHS admin jobs (which I've got 15 years experience in) is because a lot of them want 8am starts. And my daughters nursery opens at 8 so it's just not doable.
The recruiters haven't been flexible with that start time either and I've seen some great jobs that I'd love to do but no can do 😢

@MonkeyPuddle you're absolutely right.
I had to leave an admin job because of the pay.
My wages were £788 a month (3 days a week) and my daughters nursery was £660 and my sons after school club was £185. It was just pointless. I loved the work and the team but travelling there and childcare paying to park them obviously all the other life necessities it just wasn't feasible 😤

I do have horrible hours tbf

Pay people better wages obviously.