WWYD - Leaving the NHS

[MeeskaMouska]

NC for this - I know other people at work are on here.

Long story short - after nearly 10 years I’m thinking of leaving.

Pros - I love my actual job, my patients, and I have some really close friends in my team. The work we do is something where you really see the difference it makes to people’s lives. My boss has been great with flexible working and I have arranged my hours in a way which works with childcare.. I wouldn’t get these hours anywhere else.

Cons - The pay. Last year the car park fee for staff went up by more than my pay rise per day. The fact the system is really showing how it’s broken. Working against a poor system is soul destroying. I am proud of my service but being a patient in other areas of the hospital I know we should be doing better. We are so short staffed but to save money we can’t hire any more people (it’s one in one out!) and we can’t put out bank shifts is someone is sick.

I would be sad to go. I don’t know what else I would do. I have a degree in a different sector but haven’t worked in that Industry in over 10 years.

What has really done it for me - I have been doing a research project and am co-author of the paper. It has been accepted for discussion at a conference, but it will cost me £500 just to attend, not even counting the accommodation and travel. I didn’t go previous years to allow colleagues to go and covered their work. This is 1/3 of my monthly take home working part time. I have applied to the hospital who find things like this for learning development but it’s been rejected. I just feel so demoralised. DP works in a different sector and is astonished that things like conferences aren’t covered when it’s for my job.

My youngest DC starts school this year. It’s the right time isn’t it?

Similar situation, the NHS largely is terrible for flexible working, but the hiring manager at the time agreed for me to do long shifts on a Sunday and Monday night, I thought I'd never leave due to this.

Fast forwards three years, out of our small team of 12, one colleague has retired, one died, one sacked (all going through NMC) one left for elsewhere, one on long term sick and one has handed her notice in. We were already one full time person short, there has not a single advert been put out. It's crazy, and people are drowning under the workload.

I've been offered a job elsewhere in the NHS, no flexible working and under no illusions about staffing, but at least it won't be palliative patients in pain when we can't get to them, as it is currently.

The only thing keeping me and others in the NHS as a whole is the pension.

So yes YANBU, but I have also worked in private, it depends on the business as to what pension is like (never as good as NHS though) sick pay annual leave etc, some equivalent to NHS, some terrible, you do have the ability to negotiate the wage somewhat.