To think free flu jabs for NHS admin staff is ridiculous??

[thisisjustridiculous]

My SIL is admin staff in the NHS, she has no patient contact and no real contact with medical staff, beyond half an hour a week.

She’s just got a free flu jab! AIBU to think this is disgusting? It must cost the NHS so much, admin staff should have to pay. I agree that frontline staff should get it for free to protect the vulnerable but admin staff shouldn’t.

Practicaly how would that work OP?

Some admin staff do work on wards and in clinics. So you couldn't just go by job title you would have to go through each staff member's job roll that would be time consuming and you would need to pay someone to do it.

Far simpler and probably cheaper to offer it to everyone.

I can promise you I always email consultant secretaries if I have urgent problem, nurses are always under pressure. Now a patient & previously worked in nhs over 36yrs without admin staff the nhs would come to a standstill, as would porters, maintenance teams, procurement these are essential to somthing running of the hospital. HR is another matter😂

I would say jealous, very mean girls vibe

I’m enjoying how the OP didn’t return to the thread. Hoping she’s realised she can’t argue with reason

Either ragebait or some twisted competition led jealousy of her sil and not about the NHS at all.

If they really cared about the cost of sickness they would stop paying full pay for 6m for people who play the system.

It's far to easy to get signed off and have a nice 6m at home when you work in the NHS

If it’s that easy it’s a wonder any NHS staff are at work at all. 🤷‍♀️

I have a friend who isolated 14 times in covid, who works for the NHS.
He was hardly at work for 2 years….

As someone who works in HR it’s very hard to prove ‘playing the system’.

The only person I knew who got signed off for 6 months full pay/6 months half pay had Liverpool cancer.

I said 'knew' for a reason.

It is not easy to get signed off. You need evidence.

Jesus it’s the only perk I get in my public sector job 😂🙈

So your Sil, doesnt visit the hospital shop, or food facilities and walks down the corridors without touching anything?
Hospitals are very germy places generally.

Have a jab if its offered.

Yes i know someone like that, but he was high risk due to splenectomy and was desperate to come to work, but they refused him.

£15 is far less than time off work sick with flu.

YABVU. I have a few admin staff off sick at the moment and an entire chunk of my service has ground to a halt. No patients can be seen at all. No referrals can be made. No GP letters can be sent. Do not underestimate how vital NHS admin staff are to the service.

What a ridiculous post. It always shocks me that people don’t realise how hard NHS admin teams work for basic pay? If they are off, things grind to a holt. They are not professionals but choose to work in healthcare, are highly valued but could get easier work elsewhere for same pay and less stress.
Have you ever worked in an NHS setting-clinical or admin. It’s not a great environment to work in. Flu jab is the bloody least.
instead of national service I think all school leavers should have to volenteer 1 week in a healthcare setting. It would provide the education the public need to value the services they have!

We get free flu jabs in the nhs as they can’t manage if we’re all off sick it’s to keep the nhs going it’s struggling at the best of times without us all being off

You do realise that NHS admin staff are often in clinical areas with 'frontline' staff and patients so have the same risks of catching or spreading infectious diseases.

We're not tucked away in our ivory towers you know!

People barely go when it’s paid for by their employer. Admin staff won’t for it and the NHS will just pay for sick leave instead.

She works in a medical facility where she will probably have contact with those who do have contact with contagious viruses and no doubt share break spaces too? I’m sure she will also walk around said medical building so why on earth shouldn’t she be protected?!

im admin staff at a hospital. Share my break room with nurses and drs and HCAS. Come into contact frequently with porters, IT staff and managers who walk all around the hospital. I have two small children at home.

will I be having my flu jab provided by my trust? You bet I will.

Every employee in my company is entitled to a free flu vaccination. Does OP want to complain about this as well?

I worked in the private sector and we were all offered a free flu jab. They paid for a nurse to come on site and administer it as well. I had flu in 1998 and was very ill indeed so I always had one. I now get a free nhs one as I care for elderly parents but my current employer also provides it for free. It’s £19 at tesco not £15 and as pointed out it saves companies thousands in sick pay so worth them doing it. Weird thing to get annoyed about.

Some of those "admin staff" will be on a much lower pay rate. Why should they need to pay when colleagues don't.
Part of your objection seems to be that she doesn't have contact with patients or medical staff. That doesn't mean that the job isn't an essential part of the process running smoothly.

How much time and money would it cost for them to filter out who had patient/medical staff contact and those that didn't before offering vaccines - may be more cost effective not to.

Seriously what is wrong with you OP? Your post is just for yoir entertainment this evening surely.

No admin =

• buildings couldn't open with no receptionists
• noone would be answering telephone calls
• operations/ appointments/ scans/ chemo/ radiotherapy appointments would not be booked
• GPs and pharmacies wouldn't receive info about prescribed medication
• referrals into services wouldn't be picked up
• waiting lists would stall, delaying patient care
• key performance indicators (targets) wouldnt be met, resulting in a financial penalty to the NHS and detrimental to patients
• consultation letters would not be typed and sent to patients & GPs
• if appointments were attended, they would not be outcomed at the expense of the patient and KPIs/ financial for activity recorded /paid by results
• patient feedback woukd not be collected
• MDT meetings and professionals meetings wouldn't have accurate minutes
• HR processes couldn't take place
• training and supervisions would be delayed
• remaining not sick staff woukd go off with burnout
• impact on work lofe balance
• employee life cycle, valuing staff

Thats not even touching on facilities/estates admin and ward admin!

Obvs you have no idea. Admin ARE ESSENTIAL STAFF. Without them the NHS would simply not function. They are one of the lowest paid professions and havs a critical role.