Not acceptable for band 3 admin NHS staff to have to travel for miles

[Thetravellingadmin]

I’m band 3 NHS admin at top of my pay scale so about 23k from memory. I have a high workload and manage 2 staff. I have been told that due to staff shortages I will now have to travel to various sites across my trust. My trust encompasses a huge area and it is about an hours full motorway driving in some cases to go to another site.

I have travelled to one of these sites today for a meeting and the thought of doing this regularly horrified me. It took well over an hour, in difficult traffic conditions and there was nowhere to park at the end of it. I was advised to park on a residential housing estate which I felt bad about but was told because the NHS had not purchased enough parking spaces in the industrial park where the office is everyone just parks outside peoples houses all day. It was then a 10 minute walk to the site!

It seems madness that junior staff on not great wages are now expected to travel, with no available parking, causing wear and tear to their car plus cost of petrol etc oh and I also had to pay extra on my insurance to purchase “business insurance” which of course the NHS don’t cover. I can claim mileage but I’m not sure I would break even.

Of course there is a small clause in my contract which days “trust wide travel” so I have no option.

Im looking for another job!

The travel should be in work time and they should cover the mileage and cost of parking. If they won't talk to your union as its likely to be unfair somehow if they don't cover the cost.

Don’t do it, get another job. The way admin staff are treated in the NHS is appalling.

If this has just been put on you I would say no. Travel wasn't included in your JD presumably? Were you expected to be able to drive and use your car?
Does your trust have a car pool to use for business use? Some do.
I would make a fuss too

hi, am not sure about bands in NHS, but would it be possible to do the meetings via Teams, so no travel? or some via Teams, some in person?

What would happen if you didn't have a licence and vehicle to use?

If they've added in extra sites you should be able to claim mileage from your allocated base to those sites - which does make it financially tolerable. For what it's worth - I've chipped in and am covering extra sites (I can do well over an hour travel to a visit on a day) and my management are fine with chunks of my working day being taken up travelling as a result since they appreciate I'm doing them a favour covering a staffing hole (well with 2 staff down it's more of a gaping chasm at the moment).

As for parking - get a few of you together and make some noise - we did have a similar situation resolved when they moved our offices recently and they've acquired more parking spaces for us to use when we refused to walk down a dark crime ridden alley carrying laptops every day!

I hate motorway driving but it's just a necessary evil where I live in the trust I work for which has a humongous geographical area. Gritted teeth and getting on with it.

You did just remind me to log my own mileage for the last couple of weeks though -so thanks!

They tried to get me to do this, my contract stated one town only. Not trust wide travel. So they changed my contract and told me to sign or leave. So I told them I’d sold my car and no longer had one. They provided a pool car. I left. Now get paid 2x more and have sensible managers

Can you talk to your line manager and explain that you are not comfortable with the extra cost, plus the loss of your work time. Perhaps suggest online meetings?
Sell it as helping efficiency…

This 👏

If trust wide travel was in your contract why are you surprised when asked to do it?

£23k is low pay to be managing 2 staff and travelling!

What location is stated in your contract?

If it's a specific office then they have to pay your travel costs and allow you to travel in company time when expecting you to go to any other location.

I'm band 3 and manage 3 staff. That's leave, appraisals etc and I am only a few points up from bottom of band.

I would look for another job

45p per mile doesn't just cover fuel ( whic even at prices just now would be less than 20p per mile) but wear and tear to car as you travel more miles you need new tyres brake pads and discs more frequently, the interval between 10,000 mile services decreases you need oil changes more often and your car devalues quick due to higher mileage but generally I find that 45p per mile actually leaves me with spare money as I have oolder car with already a high mileage so depreciation is negligible

OP you shouldn’t be taking on managers responsibilities at B3, for a whole host of reasons, so that needs looking at , can you speak with HR to get this changed, or arrange proper ‘acting up’ ?

You should be able to claim travel expenses for travel between sites , are you doing this?

Check your job description and person specification- is travel between bases and access to a car mentioned as essential for the role?
If not say you no longer have access to the car x

I used to travel a fair bit to different hospital sites in a previous NHS job, I didn't really mind it as my travel time was paid working time, I got paid mileage and I enjoyed being out and about. If it doesn't suit you though then just leave - an experienced NHS admin won't find it hard to get another job.

I'm sure not many people actively want to, but many do. It isn't a huge ask.

Check your contract.

If you don't like these terms and conditions then find another job. Many jobs are having to be more fluid these days... I think you'll have to suck it up.

It often happens in the NHS that mileage and expense claims go through salaries so you could end up paying tax, pension and national insurance on amounts you claim.
Do the bosses know you have a car? Also if a private company expected you to drive between sites they would pay the business insurance and for the travel time (DH was in this position)

For 23k a year? Not a chance!

Oh dear lord! I am a band 4 and I manage 5 members of staff but this is along with another band 4 member too! I am based ten minutes away. However, it is in your contract to travel site wide as it is in mine. If I had to, I would leave as it wouldn’t be worth it plus I have a young child to collect from school etc. What isn’t in your contract I doubt is the management of other staff.. it’s simply not a band 3 job!!

Vote with your feet OP.

the most recent role band 3 i looked at also involved travelling
i really wouldnt worry about parking on a residential street you have every right.
a few years ago we kept being told band 3 was the new band 4
do you get paid mileage?