Band 5 NHS Admin role.. Having a wobble

[Pebbledashery]

Hello again everyone :)
I'm having a bit of a wobble today, I've resigned from my current employer and will be starting a band 5 NHS administrative role in a few weeks.. It's an Executive assistant post.
I've been an EA for many years but have worked in private sector, the interviewers made it very clear it was all about transferable experience and not having NHS experience wasn't a deal breaker. I got offered the post immediately after 2 interviews in 1 day, from conditional to unconditional has progressed very quickly also and now I've resigned!
I looked for a role in the NHS as I wanted a new challenge as I've worked in the private sector for 15 years.
Also as well, I wanted a job local to where we live..I'm a single parent and have no family help, and with restrictions lifted I was expected back in our central London office 4 days a week which wasn't feasible.. My new role, It's a 20 minute drive from home which is amazing.. I'm going from part time remote working to 5 days a week based in hospital Trust headquarters.. I'm actually looking forward to wearing work attire and going back into an office.
I just feel really wobbly today, its a 6 month probation period.. I'm worrying about not being good enough, or not being able to cope with the demand of the role.. My current role is extremely fast paced, complex and challenging and I work completely unsupervised but it's in an industry I know inside and out so I perform very well.. I'm worried about what they will expect of me.
I know the trust have recruited for 3 other new EAs so it's likely that someone else won't have NHS experience..
Just feel like this is a huge step, I was applying for band 4 roles and never thought for a second I'd get an interview for a Band 5 let alone get the role, I'm so happy and excited but also very anxious and just want to do really well.
Can anyone offer any words of wisdom :)

I have worked in a similar role in the NHS OP. It sounds like you've got a very strong skill set and plenty of experience to do the job well, but it's understandable to have a wobble. I'm sure you will do well if you're used to working in the private sector.

IME enjoying working in the NHS, more so that private sector, depends on how good your manager is at their job. It can make the difference between a role you enjoy and one you can't wait to escape. In the NHS problem employees are usually promoted beyond their competence or moved sideways to be someone else's problem, not many managers want to take on the task of performance management. Also if you're used to fast paced you might find the frequent inefficiency and bureaucracy frustrating. It often takes a long time to make decisions as so many people have to be involved in the process.

But don't let this put you off, once you are in the NHS its pretty easy to move around if you don't like the job for whatever reason. I started as a temp Admin Band 3 and am management now. I've worked in some amazing teams and loved every minute of some jobs and moved on pretty quickly from teams where I didn't like the culture.

Thank you that's really helpful. I know first week will be induction and all the mandatory training..
Is support good within the teams in NHS? I just want to do really well. They seemed like such lovely people in the interview and they said it wasn't just about what I could offer them it's what they could offer me too which I thought was really lovely.

Support again depends on which team and manager you're working with. I had one manager who was very keen to help capable people progress. She put me forward for training and secondments that helped me move upwards.

I had another manager who would cancel people's non mandatory training as he felt they should always be focused on doing the work in his department not 'skiving' off on training. I left his department pretty fast!

On balance tho Ive had more good than bad managers. IMO the biggest problem in the NHS apart from the lack of funding is poor communication between departments. People tend to work in silo's and some aren't willing to share knowledge as they view you as a rival team rather than colleagues. There are ways of circumventing people like that but it just makes the job harder than it should be. But that's not exclusive to the NHS there are people like that everywhere.

Forgot to say it sounds promising from what they said in interview

I keep remembering things to add. In my Trust there was a legendary member of staff on one of my teams who wrote off a Trust van during his probation and still passed.

I'm sure you'll be grand! As pp said , once you're in its relatively easy to move around if you don't like where you're working. Where I am in nhs your private sector experience would be invaluable. I started as a band 5 about 25 years ago (!!!) And am now an 8a.

Thanks all. Feel a bit more reassured. It's a big team of EAs so hopefully they'll be supportive.
How long does all the induction and mandatory training all last?

My training lasted a couple of weeks for my current job because I needed access to lots of separate software programs. Different IT departments had to arrange access so I did lots of extra training and reading of policies etc. While waiting for it to be sorted out. In other jobs it was much less time.

Thank you. You've been really helpful all of you. Just hope I'm good enough.x