New job vs new vag

[K0lY4k1N]

Greetings !
I had my son 3.5 years ago, and thanks to forceps and a hell of a lot of (life-saving) rummaging post-delivery, my foof is knackered and I referred for prolapse repair and hysterectomy. I had the op booked for July, but have just been offered a job, after a bout of freelancing. It's working for the NHS who have a standard probationary period of 6 months (even for 12 month fixed term contract !).

So the risk is going for the op (which has a 6 week recovery period) during probation, when I effectively have a one week notice period.

Despite one of the interview panel being about to go off on maternity leave, they were arses about any sort of part-time / compressed hours. I asked to go down to 0.9 in September when my son starts school so I can do one 3.15 pick up a week, but they advised me to take it as leave. Given their attitude to working conditions, I'm probably going to have to reschedule the op, as they won't be happy about 6 weeks off.

If I do cancel, they can't reschedule as far ahead as 6 months time apparently and I will have to drop off the list and be re-referred to the list again in the autumn. Has this happened to anyone else ? Was your GP a pain about re-referring ?

Any advice much appreciated !!

I guess it depends on how much you need the money vs the op. If you are
In pain and need the operation I would risk them trying to dismiss you while on leave for the op. If it's something that can wait then maybe go the Re-referral route. Although if this is only a 12 month contract could this just happen again next year on another new contract?

Well, they're optimistic that the 12 month contract will be extended. But yes, fixed term contracts are very annoying, but the norm in research / data analysis.
Ideally, I guess I would try to arrange the 6 weeks recovery towards the last 2 months of the contract. That way they'd have to pay me sick leave too.
What I'm wondering is if you voluntarily drop off a waiting list do you then get a mark against your name for wasting NHS time (because the NHS are arsey employers )

Also, not in pain as such, it's more just inconvenient and unedifying ! But I dream of being able to do stuff like go jogging again once they've fixed me

I would take the job, and go for the surgery, and see if they fired me! They may well not do. And if they do you can look for another job. Health is of top, top priority.

Also, this can be a long term health issue too, eg could earlier surgery now reduce risks of problems later?

I would do both. Any chance it counts as maternity related and can’t be counted as sick leave (clutching at straws I know). Also, and this is bad advice (!!), but you don’t have to be off for the whole 6 weeks. I had an operation with a four week recovery but I have a sedate office job so I took less. A person with a manual job would have needed the whole time - I didn’t.

You could talk to your GP about the re-referral route. They would be understanding. It's not like you want to go on holiday - it's a chance at a life changing job offer.
Also, would it be easier to recover if your son is at school for the longer day. Might be a factor depending on how much help you were going to get.