Pay with Dict8

[juju1507]

I have been working s/e with Dict8 for 3 years now and my payment by cheques are arriving later and later. My last cheque arrived 8 days after it was issued and I noticed they are now sending cheques second class. Does anyone else work for Dict8 on here and, if so, are you finding that your cheque is arriving much later than it used to? I have direct debits set up deliberately for the middle of the month in order that my cheque would have cleared in time but now I am worrying that even by 15th of each month the cheque will not have cleared. Sorry for the ramble but just curious if others have noticed this.

@Chrissols - I cannot get that to work either! Thanks anyway, there is no obvious rush but I have been trying to compare two holidays and one offers insurance and the other does not.

@Gally123 I have just been on the site and it is still working, sometimes it comes up with an error message but there is a box underneath that that says 'get a quote', click on that and it works. It gives quotes from a lot of companies just like go compare and the like

@Chrissols - I tried again and it worked! I think the problem was because I put that I was on a hospital waiting list for something (which is only minor/routine) and when I changed that to not awaiting hospital treatment it worked and I got a range of quotes to compare. Thanks.

Feels like it is going to be another dismal day - Typed 2 letters in two hours only .

@danblack87 I am finding Friday's the worst by far, have been thinking of just giving up with them. Having said that, the whole week has been pretty bad this week

@danblack87 - I think, but could be wrong, but with the bank holiday on Monday, this might be half term week (if schools were operating normally) and so some doctors might be on holiday. Anyway, that is what I am telling myself in the hope that next week will be better....

I have found it better to start earlier, I started at 7.30 am this morning and there were a few letters then, but it ground to a halt about 9 am

I have typed 5 so far today but Wednesday was my better day. I have spoken to a few of my friends (working in NHS) re. half time week and most are not taking time off as there is nowhere to go so they are saving their annual leave until it is more viable to spend quality time away with family - I am not sure if that applies to Dr's but with most clinics currently closed and resorting to telephone clinics I am not sure … It is definitely v. slow though

Today didn't turn out too bad by the end, it's a pain though having to sit hours on end staring at a screen just in case something should show up

Does anyone know if any NHS medical secretaries are working from home during the pandemic instead of on site?

@Whitestar5 the ones I know are on site, but it’s just a small hospital here

The med secs I know are working on site as usual.

just had the details through of another webinar regarding the extending of the income support scheme and I have registered for next Wednesday.

I must admit it feels funny getting money when still working, however as that work is minimal and the pay is much less than half what it would be in normal times, despite still putting in the hours (okay some sitting in the garden in the sun when it is obvious I am wasting my time in front of my laptop) and as we are entitled to claim, I shall see what they say, as I cannot see hospital clinics getting back to normal just yet.

The NHS secs I know are rotating WFH with working on site - in line with socially distancing. The work is not being outsourced any longer as those WFH do the typing.

I don't know how long for. Telephone clinics may be for some time.

Hi Gally 123. Would it be too much of an imposition for you to let us know how your webinar went and if we need to do anything, or like last time we are sent an email directly to apply. I did do the webinar myself last time but it is quite a general thing isn't it and individual questions were limited - I think so many people log on at the same time with many different questions.

The last time was so simple and easy I was hoping it might be similar next time round. I agree it is a weird situation but feel that if we are considered eligible then that is fine. It does take the pressure off doesn't it knowing that this is a fall back in these lean days!

Thanks very much.

@Lucylizzy123 it may well be that the webinar is exactly the same as last time, however I do want to ask if people like us are eligible as we have no way of knowing how long this situation will last, ie when hospitals will return to more normal clinics, or when DICT8 will stop letting hospital use their software free of charge for the hospital staff to work from home; it is all beyond our control. We are not like hairdressers, driving instructors, electricians etc who know when they can get back to earning money. Possibly this extension is more geared towards people like tour guides who cannot work until movement restrictions are lifted and people can go on holiday.

Another reason I signed up is because I was unsure whether if a person shows any interest in the scheme their claim would be viewed more favourably as if people do not register it might be seen that they are not interested as they do not need the money.

Of course, I shall mention what transpires, as I did last time. Typing this morning has been very poor again, so who knows when we will be able to earn more money again and DICT8 have been very quiet recently.

I agree it is strange re. money from the Government but if we are eligible and up-to-date with taxes, as we were before, I don't see any reason not to claim. I will wait until I get a letter, if I get one, and then claim as I did before. No post/e-mail yet today. Posted my invoice for the month (not a huge amount but a little more than last month). At the end of the day bills have to paid and if help is there I am very grateful .

Very slow here too, a handful of tasks at the most. I work part time in the NHS also and there telephone clinics are really quite busy and operating starting up again, albeit slowly. Not sure where the work is right now but it certainly isn't with Dict8!!

I think this ‘free service’ DICT8 has given the Trusts has really beggared it up for us guys. I hope in time that the Trusts’ don’t think this is the way forward for them as this could easily have given them ideas. They could think about putting something in place when this is over where their own staff could permanently work from home using a software of their own and reaping the benefits of never having to pay for outsourcing anymore.
On another note, I couldn’t claim for the employment grant as apparently, I earned too much working part-time (two days a week) as bank staff at my local hospital, which I think is unfair, as I don’t even have that to fall back on now as they don’t need the help anymore with a lot of clinics being cancelled. I never earned that much with DICT8 before, so perhaps doing a bit of bank work over the past couple of years has spoilt it for me now to claim.
The little bit of work I am getting from DICT8 is being scrutinised beyond belief but then I suppose the proofreaders have to earn their money and are probably able to proofread just about everything that is typed with there not being hardly any work

@lucy - I don't see too many tasks this side for DICT8; assuming secs are on a rota some in and some WFH. It has depleted the work alarmingly that we s-e's can do for sure. When secs are in are they typing or on phones? Do they then get to WFH out of hours with the free equipment, also take annual leave get paid holiday pay) and type for DICT8 as usual for different hospitals if they are registered with Dict8/or other company? [it seems their bows are very loaded and very lucrative [and sorry to say, guy's, there are people out there working for Dict8 and NHS who are not registered as self-employed in their out of hours work so not paying taxes on their 2nd income … I have known this for a long time and it sticks in my Craw - so it is a double mockery in my opinion)] … to me this seems the most logical explanation unless another company has taken up contracts with NHS for this work I would like to hear from Dict8 how we will progress from here?

@Carosel2 - for claiming the income support your self-employment earnings need to be more than the earnings from your other paid employment, ie you need to earn more with DICT8 than your two days a week so that self-employment is your main source of income. If you earn more elsewhere than you cannot claim, unfortunately.

@Gally123 - Thank you Gally. I only went to work banking because I couldn't get the work from DICT8 and it was only two days a week on a band 3 level, but I must have been paid more for those two days then than what I earned self-employed. Oh well, I'm just praying this work picks up again and enough for me to stay at home. Fingers crossed when clinics do start coming back etc hopefully we will be smiling again..... back to the refresh! lol

@Carosel2 - I was in exactly the same boat, so now have very little income at all 😥

@Chrissols - it is soul destroying isn't it. What with bills etc, I could cry at the moment. I just wish DICT8 had looked out for us a bit more. We are the ones making their money but yet we have been totally overlooked here. I don't mind they have helped out at this tragic and trying time but this could go on for a long time and surely they should be pulling the reins back in a little now to help all the loyal transcribers who are suffering financially big time. Chin up! (don't know how to add a smiley face on this forum!)

I just think it is a real shame that the legitimate hard self-employed workers are being penalised. I was thinking of applying for NHS bank work earlier in the year to get me out of the house for a few days a week but now after @carousel2 I am glad that I did not take that route. I have finger's xx'd for each and everyone of us.

@danblack87 - I like you did exactly that, because I was getting cabin fever, I thought I'd join the bank for a bit, plus with not a lot of earnings from DICT8. I am on NHS Professionals register as the Trusts near me use them now, they don't have their own bank staff department anymore and I was inundated with emails from them asking me to work in different departments as their typing load was so backlogged in every specialty. They kept me going for two years! I know the hospital I worked for does not use outsourcing. Now because of the fact no clinics etc, the work is caught up with by the permanent members of staff so they cancelled my temporary position. I have emailed them recently to ask if they need anyone yet and they have apologised saying it is very, very quiet at the moment so no thanks.