NHS staff cuts

[HamptonCourtPrincess]

Well, this is going to go down well with NHS staff. In an already understaffed NHS they decide to go ahead with loads of job cuts. Ok, maybe just management but, seriously! Those left will pick up extra work. As someone who has worked in the NHS for almost 30 years, I am fed up of the constant cost cutting, yet they still expect a high quality service. Many of us are already doing the jobs of more than one person (and taking on the extra stresses). Many departments are understaffed.

My manager told us yesterday that we’d saved ‘x’ amount of money, as a department, over the last year. So, our budget for next year has been cut - to less than what we’d spent (even though we’d managed to save money). We can’t recruit any extra staff so desperately needed. Staff go off sick because they end up doing too much. Quality deteriorates as people rush.

But yet, our country seems to have plenty of money available for other things…

I am seriously fed up of working in the NHS.

I think part of the problem with management in the NHS is alot of the admin roles pay is much higher than the clinical staff get, and yet the responsibilities of the clinical staff and level of education required is so high.

I know a few people that work in HR within the NHS and all of them are on more money than nurses.

Partially true, but without the admin staff they’d soon run out of patients to treat!

well i guess HR dept does need to be competitive to retain their staff.

Sorry to hear this OP.

our local hospital trust put out a lovely cheery announcement out to staff saying they’re announcing a massive new transformation project which will help patients. Said their clerical staff deserve better than the outdated computer systems they work with. So are investing in a new computer systems. And finished it off by saying due to the new computer system they’ll need far less clerical staff and a consultation period is about to begin. Merry Xmas.

sounds like they’re going to get rid of all ward clerks and bizarrely most medical secretaries. The consultants are up in arms about the loss of medical secretaries. I’ve no idea how a computer system can replace such staff. Guess AI is taking over jobs?

One of the mistakes they made was making clinical staff the same pay as admin. It never really felt fair and I think increased the pay demand and it also makes it harder to increase pay. A ward based nurse should be paid more than someone sitting in a nice clean office. I’ve done both and one is definitely more stressful and physically demanding than the other!

I also know managers than work from home that don’t really appear to do much. Admit they don’t do much and basically if they haven’t got a meeting are free to do what they want eg their hobbies, walking the dog etc There is room for sons changes but I don’t necessarily think cutting staff is the answer.

They wouldn’t run without admin staff

But the responsibility and training require to nurse is above admin yet their pay scales are the same. A nurse giving chemo as a band 5 or looking after someone in itu or as a lone worker making clinical decisions in someone’s home needs more training, higher education and has greater responsibility than someone doing admin yet their pay is the same

I know, wont stop it being expected though!

Reports that Reeves has turned down
Streetings request for 1bn to fund said redundancies.

That’s not the fault of the admin staff though? Granted we don’t make clinical decisions but for example my team are responsible for deciding who gets their surgeries and when, it’s a lot of responsibility still.

Again /This makes sense. Has always amazed me how paperbased and antiquated hospital systems are. Hugely inefficient. And a friend recently retired as a filing clerk at a London hospital. Filing clerks disappeared from the private sector years ago, ditto secretaries.
Sending letters in the post, who does that any more? We don’t need ‘make work’ to provide an income time servers in the NHS. Consultants can do without secretaries /take a lead from some of the innovative IT at my own GP’s surgery.

I’m curious as to how you think this will work?

are consultants now going to have to answer all calls from patients themselves? Arrange all their own clinics and appointments? Even while operating?

This can all be automated, especially with the advances in AI. If you go into 111 you are triaged by AI.
GPs can make referrals on the same way I make appointments with my hairdresser /on an automatic system -doesn’t take the hairdresser away from their hair cutting to make appointments.
Fewer phone calls. No paper letters.
The entrenched attitude that cinsultants have always worked that way, so needs to be over populated with oen pushers is what continues to hold back any hope of progress in the NHS.

As a manager in the NHS, I am responsible for ensuring that over 1.5 million people get access to the specialist healthcare that they are legally entitled to. There are 12 people in my team. That is less than one person per 100k of the population. Yes not all of those people will need to access that healthcare, but it has to be there just in case. We have to assess how many of those people may require out services each year, negotiate costs, manage providers, ensure that we meet our legal duties to engage with patients, check that the services are delivering quality care, liaise with CQC to check that services are compliant, work with partner organisations to ensure referral pathways are working well, report figures for government feedback to the public and deliver a million other things that the DHSC request on a daily basis.

Soon there will be 5 of us instead of 12. We have been told that we still have to do the same things because legislation hasn't changed that let's us stop doing it. I don't think it's possible. People's health will suffer. By the time they realise this, it will be too late.

Yeah all medical secretaries do is send letters and make appointments....try being one for a month

@Princesspollyyythats such a naive fucking view from someone with little knowledge of the NHS!

You’re going to automate the person speaking to Barry, ages 75, who is vulnerable and needs guidance before he goes through his surgery?

The naivety comes from people who have only ever worked in the public sector,m and expect a comfy job for life doing things the same old way they’ve always done without embracing innovation.

That would be a filing clerk, or manager working on a DEI spreadsheet in an office, would it? 😂

Could probably replace your job easily with AI

I could see an online booking system being used for appointments, like my dentist uses. Maybe they will just reduce secretaries rather than get rid as like others have said there’s much more to their role.

Absolutely. I know a manager on 6 figure salary. No background in healthcare at all. They mostly WFH & admit they're twiddling their thumbs a lot of the time. Also know admin staff who state there are 3 in their office, & the work can be covered by one person so they take it in turns going off 'sick'.

My friend is a band eight nurse. She works from home, I’m fucked if I know what she actually does. She’s hoping for redundancy.

Most of the admin jobs I see, the pay is awful. Who wants to work in an overloaded admin job with a band 2 salary?

Yep, said by someone who has never had to support someone older or with a disability.

Digital access is not suitable for everyone and, no, it’s not always about just learning or getting with the programme.

Where I’ve worked they routinely have three Band 8 senior nurses on a Sunday. Invariably walk around with their iPads or seen together having coffee at the canteen.
Definitely too many of them. They’re not like senior nurses of the past who were knowledgable and able to offer hands on support. These ones just pass the buck.