Why is the NHS so generous with their employee leave

[Ionlywentandbloodydidit]

Maybe I’m just jealous plain and simple.
I work really hard in a patient facing private sector clinical role ( not transferable to NHS) , long hours, huge amounts of stress and responsibility just like NHS workers . Four weeks holiday , no sick pay , no time off for GP, dentist appointments etc . Not just me , this is completely normal in my industry.
The NHS is on its knees , I see it every day , I’m privately employed but am also registered with NHS as a performer ( it’s complicated ) .
I have several friends who work within the NHS as nurses, midwife’s etc . They are all mostly on eight weeks holiday per annum , regularly on leave for months at a time on full pay for various reasons such as two months for a miscarriage, six months for the death of a very elderly parent or a bad back or stress etc.
They will all receive a good pension .
I’m so intrigued ( and envious I admit ) at how the NHS can be so generous with tax payers money.
Im ashamed to say I’m beginning to resent my NHS friends some of whom are quite brazen with it, especially when I also see first hand how long waiting lists are for consultations / ops for my own patients / family etc .

Meanwhile in the wonderful private sector…
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5460316-to-be-fed-up-with-how-f-ing-difficult-everything-is

Your employer is borderline (actually?) illegal in the way they treat you and you are being bitter that not everyone is as miserable or mistreated as you are. Seriously, you need to move to the USA and jump on that bandwagon of racing to destroy workers' rights. You'd love it.

This. Why does everyone complain about better working conditions rather than trying to improve their own.

Much of what you say is nonsense. Of course we don't get 6m off for the death of a parent, or stress etc, or 2m off after a miscarriage. Did you get this from chat GPT?

If you're so intrigued or envious then go work for the NHS. Failing that do some work on your numeracy skills, as maximum annual leave is just over 6.5 weeks (NOT 8 weeks). I also struggle to believe you only get 4 weeks annual leave when legal minimum annual leave is 5.6 weeks). Working privately you most likely get more pay and less annual leave / sick pay etc. You made the choice and no one made you do it 🙄

33 days plus 8 days bank holiday is 41 days. Which is 8 weeks (because a work week is 5 days).

Minimum in the UK is 5.6 weeks (20 days plus 8 bank holidays).

Clearly OP isn't arguing that, and you shouldn't put words into her mouth. She is saying that two months' leave for a miscarriage is a lot, which is true. I had a week's leave each time.

Can be more than 8 weeks after 10 years service or more....

Another NHS bashing thread 🤔

Where I worked private sector, it was a maximum of 33 days after many years service, it went up in increments and that was an absolute maximum, we could also buy and sell days up to 5 but you couldn't go below 20 or above 33, bank holidays were on top.

It’s 33 days after 10 years- that’s the max. 6.6 weeks. Not sure where this 8 weeks plus myth has come from.

It's because there OP has included BH entitlement in the NHS figure, but excluded it from her own leave. Presumably to make hers look worse.

I've worked in the NHS, in private healthcare, and for a charity. The NHS has better conditions because the rest of it is a fucking nightmare and you have to keep staff somehow. The pay is crap. The stress is MUCH greater. The red tape is ridiculous (thank you, internal market). The things you are asked to do on minimal funding are impossible, so you end up working unpaid overtime all the time. Either that, or let down the patients. The stress is just constant - no 'downtime'. Just as you get things running smoothly, some dickhead upper manager will come along and demand changes for no good reason. Or the government will bring in a meaningless target you have to achieve.

And maybe, just maybe, the problem is your employer, OP. Not every private employer acts like yours does. Mine matched my NHS holidays, and was far MORE flexible with time off for appointments, sickness of children etc. Couldn't match my NHS pension, but it's swings and roundabouts.

Once I left the NHS, I would never have gone back. Life was so much easier in private healthcare/charity sector.

Two months off for a miscarriage is not the NHS norm - so maybe, OP, you should take it up with your friend's doctor, who will have signed a sick note for her.

Come work for the NHS op. I moved from private to nhs. Much happier.

Also when we say everyone is always off in the NHS, it's so inefficient

I had no problem getting the resus team to come to see my crashing patient. Or the major hemorrhage team when they are bleeding
No problem getting the on call anaesthetist to review my patient who's about to lose their airway, no problem getting a theatre opened up because a patient is haemorrhaging. No problem getting the on call consultant to come in at 3am and then do a full day's work the next day, (maybe grumpy but definitely not on flexi time)

Surprisingly none of these people were off on compassionate leave or god forbid annual leave. The majority of NHS staff are hard working, present on the days/hours they are paid for. Yes some take the piss but let's not pretend that hospitals are some ghost town where everyone is off

NHS here. I get approx 7 weeks annual leave but that is due to >10 years service, it’s normally 27 days plus 8 bank holidays if you are new to NHS and then increases to 29 days after 5 years, and then to 33 days after 10 years' service
Pension not so good now that the government has had their hands on it. My expected annual pot on retirement is £5k a year with a £10k lump sum. Certainly no where near what it used to be.

I have never known anyone to be given six months off for a death of a relative, sounds like they have had sick leave for thiis.

There has to be some benefit to working in the public sector surely?

If you only get 4 week paid holiday then your employer is breaking the law, it should be 5.6 weeks (although that can include bank holidays).

They do get sick leave. I speak from experience. But my point is, would they be off work for as long if they weren’t on full pay for 6 months. Which is when they are suddenly well enough to return to work.

Also you are a skilled professional, why the fuck are you working somewhere that does not offer company sick pay?

I have previously worked for government organisations and it’s not as simple as just coming back to work when you feel ready and able to do so if occupational health are involved.
They dictate when you can come back and that’s often delayed by not being able to get an appointment with them in the first place to decide whether you’re well enough to come back

The quesrion is not "why is the NHS so generous" but why are you, a skilled professional with in demand skills, working for such a terrible employer?

I’m not being funny, but that is nonsense. You need to go and Rec calculate.
My expected pot is £11,000 pa and I didn’t work for them for very long at all
Taking the lump sum will be detrimental to the overall amount, obviously. Better to leave the 10 grand where it is

My mum had several long periods of sick leave during her long career as a nurse in the NHS.
However, she also worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic despite being in her mid 60s. And even now she is in her 70s she probably works nearly 50% of the time because whenever they need cover she happily goes back

Treating staff well means healthier staff and longer careers

It's an emotionally and physically tough job, of course they need longer recovery periods than someone like me who sits at a desk.

i work for the nhs - I get paid about 15-20k less per year than if I worked in the private sector. But I get more leave, DB pension and 6 months full sick pay. So yes theres great benefits, but a lot of people in the nhs are being paid less than they would do if they worked elsewhere.
I believe years ago in the nhs there was a vote for more leave or more pay - staff voted more leave. Some staff who have been there 30+ years have a crazy amount of leave - people used to be able to negotiate more leave instead of a pay rise.