Don't complain about the state of the NHS and the lack of jobs in the same breath

[Donteatyellowrain]

One of the biggest issues the NHS faces is the lack of recruitment. So if you want a job, go get a job in the NHS, there are plenty, many of which can be done at entry level.
Sick of people complaining about the NHS but considering themselves above working for it.

Exactly. One of the issues with the NHS is that it can’t recruit because the pay and working conditions are shit.

Really - not even going to pretend that this isnt a blatant 'everyone's lazing around on benefits and stealing your money' attention grab?
So going to ignore that this figure includes students, people with disabilities and/or ill health, and people who having caring responsibilities?

Also providers and Trusts (patient facing organisations) are notoriously inflexible employers, adding another layer of difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. Individual teams may have made great strides but this is often a reason why people with childcare responsibilities or other flexible working needs won’t find suitable employment in the NHS.

So the point is though that when people complain there are no jobs, what they mean is that there are no jobs willing to pay them £40k for their extremely limited (or nonexistent) skill set

No, they don't. I've just told you, in my region all the NHS jobs require medical qualifications or experience. I'm not job hunting, I already have a full-time job, but if I were job hunting there's nothing I meet the specification for in the NHS.

What people complain about is the structure of the NHS. There are various countries in Europe where you can for a small fee go direct to any specialist privately. You can't do that in the UK, as even seeing specialists privately requires a referral.

Clearly I'm not talking about you am I! I'm not saying that the NHS is not open to criticism, of course it is and I agree that it is not fit for purpose! But a huge contributing factor to this is the inability to recruit and I am sick of people complaining about the lack of jobs and how impossible it is to get a job when there are so so SO many NHS vacancies.

Not sure what search you are looking at but there are hundreds of jobs available in my area and most are admin rather than clinical jobs. I’m in the NHS already and profession jobs at my level are limited but if I wanted to make a sideways move there are so many I could move to and I don’t have any clinical qualifications at all.

Searching for all jobs within a 5 mile region of my postcode. This area encompasses a large hospital and various GP surgeries, I'm not in some rural backwater.

@SevenSeasOfRhye then you are living in an extremely lucky area. I live on tri-border with approximately 10 different Trusts within an hour of me and every one of them has countless vacancies. Generally speaking the more skilled a job, the fewer positions are needed so it's simply not true that every vacancy would require medical qualifications.

But the reason it can’t recruit is because the pay and the working conditions are shit 🤷🏻‍♀️.

And to all those complaining about working for the NHS, just read anytime a thread comes up asking whether they should stay.in the NHS or leave and the vast majority of respondents inevitably say stay in the NHS because the benefits can't be matched and actually life in the private sector isn't much better. There was a thread I read a few weeks ago with someone asking if they should leave for a £20k pay rise and it was still a resounding no from all the replies because that 20k couldn't come close to covering the benefits the OP would lose in the NHS!

Undisputedly incredibly generous pension that's near impossible to match in any other work place pension.
Up to 33 days AL
Up to 6 months full lay, 6 months half pay sick leave
Generous maternity benefits
As secure as any job could possibly be

There are actually a lot of serious perks working for the NHS

@Donteatyellowrain do you work in the NHS, because it sounds like you don't know what you're talking about.
I am a community phlebotomist in the midlands and I'm on the same pay band as the cleaners and porters. There is no progression or sponsorship. What rubbish!

I imagine they do need people but aren't prepared to pay for them - certainly it's a 100th-in-the-call queue situation whenever you try to phone, but they don't seem to be recruiting call centre operatives. Also near-impossible to get a GP appointment, but didn't see any GP vacancies being advertised amongst the medical roles.

Yes I do. I'm a nurse and been in the NHS 10 years. So I know how hard it is, I'm not downplaying that! But our biggest struggle is always the lack of recruitment! Someone leaves and they can't replace the role! Our staffing is always down. I'm not saying it's not a hard place to work, of course it bloody is! I never said it wasn't! But I'm sick of people moaning about the service it offers who consider themselves above working for it!

Again, how many people do you know who a) habitually moan about the NHS, b) are unemployed and c) refuse to work for the NHS? I don’t know anyone who fits into that narrow set of criteria, I’m surprised you know so many.

Only around 1.5m of those are unemployed.

The remainder are people who are unable to work due to illness/disability. They will be on ill health benefits, not "out of work benefits". A significant proportion will be awaiting surgery or other treatment/therapy, so reducing NHS waiting times would get them back to work more quickly, but the government have prioritised NI cuts, and tax cuts in preceding years, instead.

You are directing your ire in the wrong direction.

You see them on here all the time there's a massive thread on AIBU just today.

And even niche who cares?! I'm allowed to be irritated by those who moan as much as anyone.

The recruitment time and hoops you have to jump through are ridiculous so I would imagine most applicants have found a job by the time they get around to stage one of interviews even for a basic admin job, huge application form and then facing a panel.

I work for the NHS. Middle management level but looking to progress so taking several qualifications over the next few years (all paid for). My pension is brilliant, I get paid just over £50k a year (I’m single but live in the cheapest area of the country). I have a chronic physical health condition which means I’ve had to have anything from 3 weeks to 3 months off at a time over the years - all paid. My boss and my team are amazing and I know plenty of people around me who say the same.

What a strange thread. Is it about one person you know in particular?

I am an NHS doctor of 25 years. The lack of staff is horrendous. But I want people to join who want to be here and are motivated by the right reasons. We have had some dreadful staff join. Incompetent staff with bad attitude are worse than having no staff.

Not everyone has the right skillset or attitude to work in the NHS. They are allowed to moan about it without deciding to work in it. That goes for other professions like teaching too.

Why is it a strange thread? Because you've personally never met or seen anyone complain about the state of the country and include both the NHS and lack of jobs as reasons?! Well I have, more than a handful both online and in real life and yes, that's still niche but it's also a very real subset of people that irritate me.

Expanded the search region to include next big town. Switchboard operator vacancy £21,164 ... that's well below average for call centre work.

Salaries generally seem very low. Very few paying anywhere near my corporate salary, and, no I am not one of those six-figure-salaried Mumsnetters!

If I was made redundant I'd take any job in the short term to keep the money rolling in, but there doesn't seem much incentive for people to stay in NHS jobs.

I was a qualified nurse . Applied to go back into the nhs when I was made redundant . I was told the process would take 3 months ..
I got a different job and started a week after interviewing .

i also would never get a job at our main city hospital . Parking is dire for staff and patients .

You also forget a lot of these hours are unsociable and not everyone can do those hours .

I looked in my area (5 mile radius of a city) so includes a hospital and many GP surgeries

There were 88 vacancies. 1 position with 111 where they will train you (entry level). 1 position as a healthcare assistant, 1 position as a booking coordinator and 2 clerical positions at GP surgeries all required experience in a healthcare setting so not entry level.