...to keep coasting in my NHS job?

[Coa5ting]

NC for this.
I work 3 days/week as a maternity tobacco dependency advisor. As part of a push from NHS England they wanted someone doing this role in every Trust. The way it works is that the midwives ask each woman at their booking appointment if they smoke or vape, and if they do, they're offered a referral to me.
The problem is that there isn't enough demand for the service to fill my hours. So I spend a lot of my time on Mumsnet doing "busy work" or life admin.
Part of me wants to tell my line manager I need more work, but part of me feels like I'm fulfilling the role I've been employed for and it's not my fault they've employed me for more hours than they need.
I guess it's more of a WWYD - come clean or keep coasting - but for the purpose of the poll, AIBU to keep coasting??

Nothing to add about your lack of work OP, but I just wanted to say that I gave up smoking 13 years ago when pregnant, because of a stop-smoking midwife specialist just like you. She was so lovely and supportive and I'm forever grateful as I don't think I'd have managed it otherwise. So, there are people out there who appreciate the service you provide, although that maybe doesn't help your immediate situation.

Get yourself on as many training courses as you can while you’re there!

100% this! Come on! Get cracking, there’s LOADS you can be proactively doing within your role!

Why should she though? She’s doing her job

management must know how much work she has. asking for more work doesn’t get you more money, you just end up with more and more work piled on
why would you ask for more work to get paid the exact same if management are happy with what you’re doing?

Because OP seems like a good sort who feels uncomfortable with what work little her job generates.
There’s nothing wrong with taking on a small smoking cessation health improvement project related to the job.
And it’s actual people who could benefit with the potential that she can make a huge health care difference by just doing something more to fill her working day.

There are plenty of other areas (apart from maternity) we're you could do smoking cessation. I could not personally "coast" as its against my principles.

Oh my days. The NHS and public sector is quite the eye opener. And all these opinions saying coast! When did integrity disappear?!

Do as much training as you can so you can be transferred internally when your role ends.

Surely there is a record of referrals?
Won't you be embarrassed if someone looks at your referrals and asks what you do all week?

I think you should ask your manager if there is scope for broadening your job - would you be allowed to support others in the home as their smoking still impacts the child e.g. dad/partner. What about other drugs or alcohol used in the home - could you support or refer on?

Perhaps mums/dads that smoke/vape/drink might benefit from referrals to other services with their consent ideally such as maternity classes (are these free on some benefits?) - basically can you become a bit more social worker/support worker and refer for support when appropriate.

But the funding will only me for maternity. I used to do this job and could only see pregnant women and their partners.

OP, they need to change the system to an opt out rather than an opt in system. So locally smoking pregnant women are not offered a referral to smoking cessation services. They are told that a referral is being made.

How that conversation is worded is important and this is where how in your spare time you could proactively meet/discuss with staff how to word it so uptake is improved. Either meeting with managers so they cascade the message down or actually with the community midwives. As well as discussing about better wording of the initial conversation the midwives might need a bit of educating about how the service runs, what’s offered….so they can sell it more.

So they tell women that a referral is being made. They don’t even say “but if you don’t want a referral I won’t do it”. Obviously if a woman says she doesn’t want a referral then one isn’t made but she needs to be the one to raise that.

i think locally something like 95% of smoking women attend cessation services. There’s very few who don’t. But without the buy in and promotion from the community midwives it wouldn’t be so high.

its too important to get wrong. There will be babies lives literally saved by improving this.

This is really disturbing.

So they tell women that a referral is being made. They don’t even say “but if you don’t want a referral I won’t do it”. Obviously if a woman says she doesn’t want a referral then one isn’t made but she needs to be the one to raise that.

As a taxpayer I’m pretty disgusted so many people thinknit’s ok to coast.

I pondered this but it’s no different than telling a woman that her dating scan appt has been made, her 20 week scan appt has been made.

It’s simply changing the viewpoint that a smoking cessation referral is an extra/unusual thing and instead normalising it as a routine part of care for women who smoke.

women can still say no I don’t want the appt the same way they can decline a scan (or anything else). And if they decline the appt then I would be the first to say they shouldn’t be put under any pressure to attend.

The national guidance says services should be opt out not opt in. There’s tons of evidence about uptake being increased with this approach and outcomes improved.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng209/evidence/h-optout-stop-smoking-support-pdf-10890777858#:~:text=Whilst%20NICE%20guideline%20PH26%20(Smoking,this%20is%20not%20universally%20implementedb.

Your ire is misdirected. It should be aimed at the poor management, decision making and governance structures that allow jobs to be created (and even entire teams) where there is not enough work for them.

Its not fair on the staff either. People's confidence and even careers can be destroyed by these non-jobs.