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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:
GoodPrincessWenceslas · 17/12/2021 08:17

@Overthebow

We aren’t talking about unsociable hours though. OP stated the shifts end at 9pm and 8am, not exactly middle of the night. It’s annoying they’ve cancelled this close if you’re used to getting it but I also don’t see that transport should be put on as a given.
It's unsociable because it's over the Christmas period and public transport isn't running.
BeyondOurReef · 17/12/2021 08:18

@Overthebow

We aren’t talking about unsociable hours though. OP stated the shifts end at 9pm and 8am, not exactly middle of the night. It’s annoying they’ve cancelled this close if you’re used to getting it but I also don’t see that transport should be put on as a given.
The hours are unsociable because it’s Christmas Day. The buses aren’t running.

Doesn’t matter what time it is.

Even McDonald’s pays taxis to get you to and from work when the buses aren’t running. They can close on Christmas Day. But the bloody nhs can’t.

The nhs needs to retain staff. Especially now. Nurses are leaving because the pay and conditions are really tough. Paying a taxi on Christmas Day is a little part of making them feel like their employer cares even a little bit. This stuff matters.
M

GoodPrincessWenceslas · 17/12/2021 08:21

@Malibuismysecrethome

It depends on how far the need a taxi for. I suppose at Christmas and New Year it could easily come to £40 to £80 money which we are told the NHS doesn’t have.
But it's in a situation where it may not have staff if it doesn't do this. How many people would want to pay £80 for the chance to be away from their family on Christmas Day and working their socks off? It's not as if they're highly paid to compensate.
Beseen22 · 17/12/2021 08:24

So people are honestly expecting a domestic who gets paid band 2 (18k per annum) who cannot afford a car who normally pays £12 for a weekly bus ticket to pay £80 to get to their work on Christmas day because of no fault of their own...there just happens to be no transport on Christmas day?

You do realise that is most likely more than what they are making on Christmas day seen as domestics only work 8hours. Also because Christmas is a Saturday they don't get public holiday pay...they just get usual saturday shift pay.

They get no choice to work Christmas, it is just assigned and you obviously wouldn't get a swap. Trusts can't be seen to encouraging car sharing due to covid risks even though behind the scenes they are.

Also it is an entirely short sighted move of NHS management. No one is going to pay more for commuting that they earn that day (would you???) so realistically if you don't provide transport people will call in sick. In the case of domestics you just won't get cover so the ones who do will be dumped with the extra workload. This means service provision will be slower, there won't be enough for full scrubs between covid patients so there will be significant delays seen in A&E and receiving wards. The rest of the place standards will slip. There won't be enough staff in the kitchen to provide the nice things that they try to do for patients stuck in hospital on Christmas day. If nursing/auxillary staff call in they will try and get agency for which the nurse will earn around £700 a shift plus the agency will earn around 3 x that for providing emergency cover. So you see how it is probably in their best interest to pay transport?

I fully agree that employees are responsible for getting themselves to and from work but this is an entirely different situation...there is no alternative to get them to and from work. As pp's have explained it is common in healthcare on Christmas day and in nightclubs/pubs/bars to ensure their staff get home safely. Not providing this is just exploiting lower paid workers.

BeyondOurReef · 17/12/2021 08:25

What’s the bet that the most vocal going on about how the nhs doesn’t have money and expecting a taxi is entitled and ridiculous were the most keen on virtue signalling via performative clapping for the nhs in 2020.

But now they don’t care about how nurses get home after a 12 hour shift on Christmas Day, while the rest of us sit at home eating, drinking and having fun.

Tabbacus · 17/12/2021 08:26

@Malibuismysecrethome

It depends on how far the need a taxi for. I suppose at Christmas and New Year it could easily come to £40 to £80 money which we are told the NHS doesn’t have.
It does have money but it can't recruit the staff needed to expand services/fill gaps.
Charlieiscool · 17/12/2021 08:36

It’s awful, really. I don’t know how you keep going picking up the pieces for the idiots all the time. You must be exhausted. I hope you have as nice a Christmas as you can.

Surreyhillsbutnobike · 17/12/2021 08:50

You got free taxis in the past ? Amazing

Alwayswonderedwhy · 17/12/2021 08:55

I'd think I wouldn't expect to get free travel to and from work just because I work for the NHS.

SaltedCaramelHC · 17/12/2021 08:57

@Alwayswonderedwhy

I'd think I wouldn't expect to get free travel to and from work just because I work for the NHS.
It's just on Christmas, when presumably most people wanted to take the day off, but weren't able to because we need nurses, and when there is no other transport available because everyone else gets the day off? I think that deserves some extra perqs and a thank-you for doing a job that others don't want to do (on that day). And not just nurses, but other health-care staff who have to work that day because someone had to.
MrsSkylerWhite · 17/12/2021 08:59

Sirzy

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“

Our hospital has a “sponsored by” sign in its flowerbeds though you’d have to look pretty hard to see it.

In two minds about this. On the face of it, if feels a bit mean but if it were extended to every public sector worker across the UK working on Christmas Day, the bill would be enormous at a time when every sector is severely stretched.
Have you no family/friend who could pick you up?

ItsSnowJokes · 17/12/2021 09:00

@Alwayswonderedwhy

I'd think I wouldn't expect to get free travel to and from work just because I work for the NHS.
And when you or a loved one can't get a bed in a hospital as they have no staff as they couldn't get to work on Christmas day you would likely be the first to complain.

I can just imagine some on here going "my work expect me to pay x amount for a taxi as there is no transport on Christmas day is this right?" But, because its the nhs everyone just expects the staff to be there and be at their beck and call and fuck everything else.

Oh by the way I don't work for the nhs, just don't like seeing them treated like shit through no fault of their own.

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 17/12/2021 09:04

Hospital taxi service usually refers to a form of patient transport

Putting notices where people are likely to read them is a good adjunct to having them in the patient transport office as waiting room. They tend to get overlooked in clinics.

Staff will still be able to get their own taxis to and from the hospital. And if the firm runs an NHS discount that will still be available.

It's a bit of a bugger for patients if they need the service. They'll try to discharge as many as possible before Christmas. And obviously there won't be any planned admissions. So that takes the numbers down enormously. I hope that the hospital's Friends Association can step in and pay for a normal taxi if anyone who is ready to leave is likely to get stuck with no other means to access transport.

Fendidntdrake · 17/12/2021 09:04

That's really bad.
What about hospital taxis for patients who are brought by ambulance to A and E and then need to get home? Will they still provide those?

FriedasCarLoad · 17/12/2021 09:09

If they were to cut out Christmas Day taxis in a few years time when you're well staffed and have had some great party rises, and give you several months notice, that would be tolerable.

But to do it at the end of a year when NHS staff have been through hell to keep the country alive, are underpaid and overpressured, with many on the verge of quitting, when many couldn't see families last Christmas even if they weren't working, and with just a week's notice... Well that's just appalling.

I'm so sorry, OP. Thank you for the work you do.

icelollycraving · 17/12/2021 09:10

I appreciate everything that the nhs are doing now, past and future.
I think the placing of the info was odd but you have seen it so perhaps not so odd after all.
I will probably get a tough time but it would not occur to me that you’d get free transport. You are paid for your hours. I’ve only known nightclub staff to get cabs when they get out at 4am as an example as a safety procedure, particularly young women.
I’d imagine like anyone else working, it is on the employee to find their way in.
Perhaps the gardening is done in a kind of trade off. They get to put signs everywhere saying ‘Fancy Gardens LTD support NHS 🌈’ in return for trimming done hedges etc.
I am sorry you feel unappreciated though. I know very few people who do, whatever their profession.

BeyondOurReef · 17/12/2021 09:11

In two minds about this. On the face of it, if feels a bit mean but if it were extended to every public sector worker across the UK working on Christmas Day, the bill would be enormous at a time when every sector is severely stretched.

It’s not about being mean. It’s a pragmatic business expense. It’s not an additional nice extra to ensure your staff can get to and from work on Christmas Day.

These are essential workers in services that cannot close for Christmas. There’s no public transport running. Of course their employers should pay for transport. It’s part of the business planning.

There is money in the public sector. And this is a completely predictable business expense that should be part of the budget. It’s not a nice Christmas bonus. It’s more of the having to pay to heat the building or providing loo roll in the toilets type of business expense. When the finance people are doing budgets, they should automatically have a taxi budget for the small number of days a year that there is no public transport available to their staff.

OnAWinterMorningFarAway · 17/12/2021 09:11

Free minibuses to and from work are common in many countries, and even in some workplaces in the UK. Usually there are local pick-up points and set times, eg outside a railway station or in the Asda carpark, leaves at 7.30 am for an 8am shift start - that kind of thing.

Providing minibuses to work on a day - Christmas Day - where there is no public transport for NHS workers seems sensible, logical and a wise investment to my mind.

Get your essential workers to and from work on time and safely - it makes good business sense, and is the right thing to do.

vdbfamily · 17/12/2021 09:13

I had an email from Uber offering 2 free taxi trips to and from work for NHS workers. Maybe you could put signs up making staff aware.

BeyondOurReef · 17/12/2021 09:13

And the nhs trusts are big enough to negotiate special rates with the local taxi firms for this.

vdbfamily · 17/12/2021 09:13

Register with NHS.net email on Uber app

MrsSkylerWhite · 17/12/2021 09:15

BeyondOurReef

Yes I see that, hence two minds. It’s not just NHS staff, though. It’s all essential public sector workers.

It doesn’t seem unreasonable that someone would be able to organise a lift to/from work on one day when public resources are horribly stretched.

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 17/12/2021 09:17

@BeyondOurReef

And the nhs trusts are big enough to negotiate special rates with the local taxi firms for this.
That's not a hospital taxi service though. That's a good deal on a normal taxi, and will be wholly unaffected by what's going on with the hospital taxi service.

Whatms the normal terminology at your hospital OP?

Is 'hospital taxi service' part of patient transport, as it is normally is? Or different usage for yours?

UnmentionedElephantDildo · 17/12/2021 09:19

@Fendidntdrake

That's really bad. What about hospital taxis for patients who are brought by ambulance to A and E and then need to get home? Will they still provide those?
My guess is no, because that's precisely the service that 'hospital taxi' normally refers to.

And the notices are in the loos because that's a remarkably effective way of reaching a disparate group

BeyondOurReef · 17/12/2021 09:21

@vdbfamily

I had an email from Uber offering 2 free taxi trips to and from work for NHS workers. Maybe you could put signs up making staff aware.
Charity (from the uber advertising budget 🤣) is not the answer to an NHS trust not doing basic stuff like this.

They know who is working and have data from previous years about take up rates for taxis. They can organise drop offs and pick ups for groups and should have booked with local firms months ago.

This is just bad management.