Pay with Dict8

[Chrissols]

Looking for people from the previous thread that closed as must of been full?

[quote Gally123]@Whitestar5 - I find the poor quality depressing - that the doctors (mainly, a few nurses) think so poorly of their secretaries - and us - that they cannot be bothered to speak clearly, with minimal background noise etc. I have had some truly dreadful ones today - one lady so quiet she sounded so far away from the microphone and another was in a room so noisy I could hear several other conversations more clearly.

I find the dictation with T-Pro much clearer on the whole. I have so far encountered only one whisperer and rarely get a paper rustle. One lady yawned but stopped speaking. The main drawback is the lower rate of pay.[/quote]
Hi Gally123, yes and it's frustrating that we are generally powerless to do anything to improve the situation for transcribers.

@danblack87 Sorry to hear you have been so unwell, but glad your feeling a little better now. Things have picked up tremendously work wise on here this week which is fab, especially at this time of year when every little helps - long may it keep increasing 😀😀

@danblack87 - sorry to hear you have not been well - do you think you might have had a touch of COVID as I understand D&V and headaches can be symptoms?

Not seen much of the usual Christmas surge so far, but then there was little extra work last year.

@danblack87 - hope you feel better soon

Can I ask - how many hours does everyone put in on Dict8 per day/week. I feel a bit like it takes ages some days just to make a decent amount, and it's such a slog - is it just me or do others feel the same. (Been working for Dict8 for about 6 years or so now).

Thanks everyone for the messages. I haven't had COVID and I was tested about three weeks ago for a trial and was negative. I only go to the local shops so don't know how I picked up the bug and it wasn't anything I ate either ... just strange - just tired - just no MOJO - just got to get on with things rest of the month!!

@flutterby18 I usually put about five hours in, but tend to flit in and out with Tpro when there’s no work. It certainly doesn’t make the money I used to make in the hospital by a long chore, it would though if the tasks were available

@flutterby18 - I usually try and work 8 am - 6 pm, which is more or less the hours I would have been working at the hospital plus travel although some days it is less if I pop out to the shops or take some time out for other reasons, and in the summer I like to take the opportunity of the nice weather in the garden.

At the moment I am earning about half what I used to with DICT8, and it is a real struggle due to lack of work and the poor quality. My sister works part-time at Sainsbury's for £9.50 an hour, sometimes just standing by the door greeting people. She says it is a low skill job and I should consider applying, however it might pay (much) more than DICT8 but would not give me the freedom and the time off, which I have got used to.

There is more work with Tpro and I am still getting used to the differences in lay out etc but I am hoping once I get used to all the different specialties it will work out better. The Irish accents are not too strong (not as strong as with the Northern Irish) and I would recommend anyone interested to apply. They do like a minimum of 150 letters a week but there is plenty of work so if I go out shopping during the day etc I can make up the time in the evening or at weekends.

@Gally123 gosh, it sounds like your working constantly. When I know I am going to be taking a weeks holiday or the like, I do those hours and then do make the amount I did as a med sec, without leaving the house. I actually love working for Dict8 and wouldn’t change now, although the hospital have just asked if I will do four hours a week for them.....I think I will do that just to see some real people lol

@flutterby18: I tend to start around 8.30 and finish around 4.30 (Minus a couple of hours here or there). I currently earn much less than 1/2 the amount I used to. The hourly rate is pretty dire currently (used to be between £10 and £14 - now anywhere between £7 and £9 - it is really shocking). However, I have no wish to go outside the house for work currently and medically I am restricted in jobs that I can do other than typing. I would say that currently my maximum per month earnings are between £400 - £500.

Sorry guy's that should have readv bcurrent hourly rate is anywhere between £4 and £8 - Below minimum rate of pay anyway.

Are folk counting the hourly rate from when they start in the morning to finish at the end of the day, or the hourly rate of tasks typed (if that makes sense). I actually find a lot of the tasks a really good rate, if it is a nice clear one and long, it can work out at £20ph but then there are the rubbish ones which can work out at £5ph

@Chrissols - my day might seem long but if I was still working at the hospital I would actually leave home about 7.30 am to catch the bus and not get back until 6.15 pm, so actually less hours! Also, as mentioned during the summer (as I do not take 6 full weeks holiday a year now) I only work part- time, esp this year with COVID.

As I am not yet of retirement age the plan has always been to work with DICT8 similar hours to if I was still at the hospital in order to pay off my mortgage, hopefully sometime next year, and then I can relax a bit and plan more for retirement.

My hourly rate I take for individual tasks and the amount of work on offer. It is not as high as the amounts you quote, mainly as a couple of years ago I cut the tip of my index finger quite badly in the garden and can no longer use it to type, so not as fast as other people.

On a good month with DICT8 (ie 23 working days) I could earn over £1,300, even shorter and in the summer months I would aim to clear £1,000, so I earned almost £14,000 a year. COVID made it nearer £600 a month, hence at the moment I am using T-Pro to top things up.

@Gally123 gosh how do you manage to type without using your index finger, that must be so difficult......well done you for still typing.

I am not of retirement age yet, hence doing this and Tpro and will be doing so for a few years yet, I still have ten years on my mortgage 😥😥😥

I have to say though, I am really not keen on Tpro work so only do it when it's an absolute must. I certainly do not hit their 150 letters a week mark, I am lucky to do that many a month lol......

@Chrissols-I use my middle finger more to type.

Thank you for your replies. I start at about 9 am and finish at 4 pm. I am hoping it goes back to the way it was when we could decide when to work - mornings, evenings etc, without having to grab tasks as they appear.

I have also been offered some hours back in the NHS but I am not sure as I am enjoying my freedom at the moment.

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year.

I calculate my hourly rate by task (you can get a good one or two at £10-13/hour, for instance, or a lot at £4-6/hour). Then average out across the month like @Gally123. I can go a couple of days with no/limited work available (panning out at about £4-£6 per hour (or nothing sometimes) and then make-up over a weekend in my specialities (not that I enjoy doing weekends; but it is a must to make up loss); However, it is so variable at the moment it is insane. However, looking back through my payment records I can see (and it is reflected in my cheques/records) that I am earning LESS than half of what I was previously over the last year. So, on that note, and barely managing, I keep going with Dict8 rather than looking elsewhere - and knowing my limitations, I keep going. Yes, I know I could take on some private consultants but that is not what I am in a position mentally to do right now ... you have to be 120% committed for that and available 24/7 which is not a situation I wish to put myself in. I hope that Dict8 work will get back to the norm so that I can rest easy.

@Gally123: I use my middle finger - but not to type!!!! hahahahahA

@Chrissols: fortunately, I do not have a mortgage; so I can see feel the stress there.

@danblack87 yes my mortgage is the reason I do work as much as I do, but on the other hand, I actually do enjoy it, does that sound a bit sad? I don't tend to work weekends as for my specialties' nothing really appears, but the weekdays are great at the moment....well the afternoons are. Daren't get to complacent though as things just change in a heartbeat....

@flutterby18: if you are able - although the work is not always there, I find that Monday/Tuesday mornings around 7.30 quite lucrative (maybe the dictators have done a weekend shift/gone early on a Friday and have not uploaded until Monday morning/Tuesday!! That is what I find anyway in my Specialties. Wednesday is usually awful !! Thursdays tend to be my best day along with Saturday morning - just depends. It is like an audio lottery

@danblack87 - Thanks for that. I did used to start earlier but then found there were no tasks early in the morning. I may start earlier again from next week and see how it goes. I think possibly you and I may have a speciality in common

I never see any tasks over the weekend, I still keep having a quick look now and again, but it's always the same for me, even before the pandemic

@Chrissols: It does not sound 'sad' at all. I work for Dict8 because I love the work and I have the knowledge and can (with my crumbling left thumb bones I do not need to 'hump piles of notes around the office to put them in date order, negotiate lifting, writing whilst on a phone, etc. + my 85% useable left shoulder/arm can be a real downside in The Work place - each have their own reasons to do what they do) AND I hate to think of people's letters stuck in a backlog for 4-8 weeks (3 months at some points where I worked as a Med Sec) + the progression of patient care in a timely manner is paramount to me. To sit in an office and see piles of notes and tapes (as was then) or looking at Tasks waiting to be typed (in the thousands) waiting to be typed destroys the soul and, also, increases administration required for secretaries in the office, hence making much less time for typing [complete bug bear of mine] . Speedy communication makes a more cohesive and comprehensive record of what is going on and it is very important to a patient's pathway and care forward. I am all things patient care AND I love working from home, I would not change it for the world