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Original poster

What would you think if you read this notice on the back of your staff loo door?

210 replies

Diditopknot · 17/12/2021 07:05

“2021 There will be no hospital taxis provided on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day”

There are no buses running on Christmas Day.
To give you context, this is a hospital.
Now overwhelmed by covid and usual winter issues on top.
The nurses start at 7.30 finish at 9pm. Night shift 8.45 til 8

There is no visiting again due to covid so not sure why this has been hidden in a loo, there’s no one to see what a shit thing this is for many nurses who rely on buses to get to work.
It’s the one relief working on Christmas Day that at least you can get home to your family without paying inflated taxi prices.
Those that drive still have to pay to park on Christmas Day or they will be fined.
The nurses are trying to sort out lifts from each other a week before their shift.

Just to add, there are very few nurses, staffing is horrendous so it will be a very low bill for the hospital.

I saw the very exclusive garden centre staff out cutting the grass and trimming the hedges again this week at the hospital…wonder how much that’s costing the hospital?
What about having the garden centre staff come 10 months of the year and using the other 2 months to pay for Christmas Day taxis.
As long as the package is pretty, doesn’t matter what’s going on behind doors does it?

It beggars belief.
What would you think?
Put yourself in the shoes of that nurse reading that, on your knees covering extra shifts all year due to sickness and staff leaving in droves. Facing the start of the 3rd wave. Rubber mask making marks on your face, no break again for the 2nd shift in a row.

OP posts:
rrhuth · 17/12/2021 07:12

I think the placing of the sign is strange, but if I am honest I would not really expect a paid staff member in any organisation to have their transport to/from work paid for.

I am extremely grateful for what NHS staff have done, and are doing, and will have to do in relation to both their regular jobs and the extra burden of covid (which is huge).

But I still don't know that I would expect any employer to pay for transport to/from regular workplace.

I have two close relatives who were/are NHS and neither ever had a paid taxi to the best of my knowledge (and both often worked Christmas/New Year).

ninja · 17/12/2021 07:16

@rrhuth the difference is that people are being asked to cover others due to illness l, often for unsociable hours and there's no public transport. I think that deserves some goodwill

ArblemarzipanTFruitcake · 17/12/2021 07:17

I think that's awful. I hope you and your colleagues can travel safely over Christmas.

Marchingredsoldiers · 17/12/2021 07:17

It sounds really shit. And little things like seeing gardening going on in december would get me going too. I feel your anger.

I hope your christmas shifts go as well as they can go.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 17/12/2021 07:17

staff get free parking over christmas at my hospital

SmallBoyFury · 17/12/2021 07:17

What would you think?

I would think that hospital staff, like thousands of other people who work on Christmas Day, need to organise their own transport.

chipshopElvis · 17/12/2021 07:19

That sounds horrible and demoralising OP. If taxis for Christmas shifts are usually provided then that's unreasonable. Can you raise it with your union rep?

Sirzy · 17/12/2021 07:20

It’s shit if that’s what’s been offered in the past but part of it could be down to the fact in most areas there’s a shortage of taxi drivers so I’m guessing that will be an issue even more on Christmas Day so I doubt most companies would be able to commit.

PeaceONoeuf · 17/12/2021 07:21

I got free taxis when I worked night clubs. This was millions of years ago. I think it’s a courtesy for some shifts/expectations

Sirzy · 17/12/2021 07:23

Oh and are you sure they are paying for the gardening? It’s the kind of thing a lot of garden centres and similar do as an act of kindness/good PR thing.

fizzybootlace · 17/12/2021 07:23

I think that's appalling. All our care and catering staff that have to work Christmas or new year when there is no public transport have taxis laid on.

Its choices by the management and I'd feel furious and let down too!

MoiraNotRuby · 17/12/2021 07:24

That sounds like they have changed the previous system, in the worst possible circumstances, which is shocking.

If you have a local Facebook group and post asking for help with lifts to and from the hospital for staff working on Christmas and Boxing day I'm sure the local community will rally round, this is what would happen where I live.

Charliesgotachocolatefactory · 17/12/2021 07:27

I work in comms - the placing of the sign may seem strange but the one place we can guarantee everyone goes is the loo at some point, so it makes sense to put it there if we want as many people as possible to see it. So there is a rationale, however strange, behind it being there.

It’s a really shit message though. ☹️

SaltedCaramelHC · 17/12/2021 07:29

I think it's a shame if you've had taxis in previous years, and it's a nice perq for those who have to work over Christmas, especially given what is going on right now. I wonder if news coverage of it might make them back down, or charities provide them or something - I'd donate to a campaign like that.

However I think the placing of the sign is sensible. Lots of places put important reminders in the loos as that's where you can guarantee almost everyone ends up seeing them and reading them, as there's nothing else to see! It doesn't sound like a cover up to me; the fact it's not public wouldn't make any difference - as a member of the general public, I wouldn't likely read a sign else where, or wouldn't realise what it meant if I did - e.g., when I first read your post, I thought it meant "make sure you organise patient transport before or after Christmas", or that "official hospital taxis aren't running for staff, so make sure you book your alternative early" or whatever. I wouldn't have realised it meant that you normally got paid transport to work and you weren't going to this time. So I doubt it was an attempt to hide the sign away from the public. Maybe from other staff, if they would be upset on your behalf that nurses' transport isn't paid when it normally is - but would they be? Does everyone's transport get paid?

So I don't think the sign is the problem. I do think it's a shame that they've cut the free taxis, and that you should get it for Christmas eve/day, especially if there's no public transport either.

Tabbacus · 17/12/2021 07:30

I would not really expect a paid staff member in any organisation to have their transport to/from work paid for

I wouldn't mind healthcare staff having to work Christmas day having a taxi paid for them to be honest if they rely on public transport usually and its not running. Other branches of jobs paid for by the government can claim back all sorts of expenses, this is one I don't have an issue with.

GoodnightGrandma · 17/12/2021 07:30

Why would you not pay to park on Xmas day, like every other day of the week ?
When I was a student nurse I had to walk from one hospital where I lived, to the other where I worked, in the dark at 6am. I was petrified but I got on with it. Nobody clapped for me.

Kshhuxnxk · 17/12/2021 07:30

I'm shocked it was ever an option tbh. You get a decent salary, it isn't the taxpayers burden to get you to and from work in a job you chose.

TellMeDinosaurFacts · 17/12/2021 07:31

That is really shit OP. Thank you for everything you're doing.

Tabbacus · 17/12/2021 07:32

@Kshhuxnxk

I'm shocked it was ever an option tbh. You get a decent salary, it isn't the taxpayers burden to get you to and from work in a job you chose.
Not all staff do, healthcare assistants, porters, cleaners, receptionists get barely more than minimum wage.
CeeceeBloomingdale · 17/12/2021 07:32

@SmallBoyFury

What would you think?

I would think that hospital staff, like thousands of other people who work on Christmas Day, need to organise their own transport.

This!
BarbaraofSeville · 17/12/2021 07:32

@SmallBoyFury

What would you think?

I would think that hospital staff, like thousands of other people who work on Christmas Day, need to organise their own transport.

If people normally travel by public transport and their shifts fall on days that it's not running, I'd expect the employer to help provide alternative arrangements, eg lift sharing, shift swapping or paid for taxis.

I would not expect staff to have to pay for what could be extremely expensive and hard to source taxis on Christmas Day or at new year.

Not sure why the notice is posted in the toilets though. Staff affected should speak up and challenge this unfair decision, especially if it is a change to normal protocol. Get the union involved if necessary.

Peakedtoosoon · 17/12/2021 07:36

I work in school. Important notices are put on the back of loo doors to make sure all staff see them, it's nothing to do with hiding them from the public.

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme · 17/12/2021 07:37

If it's something that's always been offered then its incredibly bad management to withdraw it in this manner (with a poster in the toilets stating baldly that the perk is being removed without explanation or apology) at a time of staffing shortage and extra demand.

People saying that other types of workers have never had this are missing the point they're making themselves - withdrawing a perk that's been offered every year for so long its become expected is clearly different to never having offered that perk. Withdrawing it whilst asking/ demanding more work from your employees that ever before and doing so in an insensitive way is absolutely going to get people's backs up and could be the last straw for employees thinking about leaving already.

If there were a queue of potential nurses and porters and cleaning staff waiting for a chance at a job if anyone leaves the hospital management could perhaps afford to withdraw the usual small perks and handle this insensitively, but in the current situation it seems shortsighted!

If the problem is lack of availability of taxi drivers this could be explained.

In the end communication makes a huge difference and people are often willing to put up with hardship if they know they're appreciated and valued, and the hardships are unavoidable. Less so if they feel they're being shafted by management for no good reason.

RJnomore1 · 17/12/2021 07:37

The majority of the public sector is on its knees dealing with this situation and covering for illness, recruit difficulties etc. And none of those staff, often on minimum wage, get paid travel to work.

So while it’s a shame to not get something that was offered in previous years it’s reflective of how we are all being treated. are there HCAs cleaners etc on lower wages also expected to get themselves in?

The gardening budget will be something entirely separate. It won’t be possible to use it for taxis. Also NHS will be a big contract for those staff, should they just not get paid for two months then to cover transport for another group of people who are being paid?

Not easy is it...

Helpstopthepain · 17/12/2021 07:38

You get a taxi service ? Our trust wouldn’t dream of it (nor should they!).

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