DICT8 Plus (new November 2022)

[Whitestar55]

Hi, Here we go again, anyone else set up a new thread yet? Hope to find everyone 🙂

Hi, thanks both for your reply, that has helped. I will get my act together and apply to Tpro, but did read somewhere they are holding off recruiting more transcribers until Feb, I think I can cope until then LOL!!

Is the Tpro way of life flexible as in i could start early and work lates rather then the days? Our mortgage has gone up yet again today and after budgeting we are getting tighter than ever. As i care for my son, i'm just wondering if i could fit in the time they require staggered throughout the early/evening times of day. I also have to know what is the minimal amount of hours i have to do and roughly what this earns as i still may not be able to do it.

I personally only work for Dict8 as that is best for me given that they do not request xxx amount of letters to be typed within xxx time. I think it is good to be able to have a variety of working hours within the market particularly on those who have a constraint on the amount of working hours that they can do ... for me that is the benefit ... does not totally suit me financially BUT at the end of the day there is work available for me and I value that a lot.

Tpro told me they aren’t recruiting until February but I keep checking just in case lol. Good luck with signing up to them. Im def going to do it too. Going by this site they seem like one of the better ones to work for xx

@Frazzledbynature The way I see it transcription work is a set of gigs that companies contract out to self-employed freelancers to avoid paying the benefits/minimum wage/employer's NI etc they would have to provide for employees, so they don't have the authority to demand that you do X amount of work regularly within set working hours a day.

I sent in an email enquiring about work hours/loads and included the reasons why I need clarification and I just got an email asking to provide a CV and details to an email address.
It wasn't very clear but I assumed the lady meant to include what I had just put in my enquiry letter.
It's a good excuse to get my CV up to date but I wonder if I should include working for Dict8 or not, did anyone do this?
If they aren't recruiting until Feb that's fine as I'm giving until the end of January to decide whether I'm going to go down this route or not.

@Frazzledbynature I would just tell them you currently work as a freelance transcriber and state how long you've been doing it, rather than disclosing the company, and see if they accept that, but the others on here who work for both Tpro and Dict8 will be able to advise you better.

Just got to that part of the CV and done just yet. I'll leave it at that and if they ask I'll hopefully have the feedback from Tpro users as well. I added in writing and the fact I'm studying proofreading and self-publishing also I hope to publish eventually so it's income as well if anyone likes them lol.

*just that it was supposed to say, Iproofread should proof read my own posts lol

@Frazzledbynature Good luck with everything.

Been following the thread for a while and was wondering if it is possible to get work outside of the UK, say for an American medical transcription company ? I am slowly being driven mad by the terrible tasks on DICT8, the lack of earning power now and the ever changing feedback !!!

Look on Youtube I did find a video for transcriptions but that was some time ago but it didn't cover medical basically anything you could type, I'm guessing for television, video subtitles etc.

In fact, I might have to search for it again myself! I think they pay via PayPal or something.

@Frazzledbynature - I just sent CV and put self employed medical transcriber from X year to present. The rest of the CV had all my NHS details as medical secretary for X amount of years etc. The fact you have worked for the NHS as a medical secretary should be enough as far as I am concerned as DICT8 didn't have any details of another agency from me as they were the first I had joined. They will send you a little test anyway to make sure you are up to standard (mine was very easy and I could do it at my leisure). When I passed that I had a telephone chat to a lady who was lovely who went through a few details over the phone about the company etc. Then I had to have a video interview to go through all the system with my Team Lead. Don't worry it was very relaxed and was like talking to a good friend, my Team Lead is lovely and its nice to put a face to someone. They look after you from then on and help you with feedback and give you lots of advice. You can message them regularly too to ask questions if you aren't sure of anything. Good luck! 😊

That's fantastic, thank you for taking the time to let me know all of that. I'll be sure to update you if I hear something :)

Yes I agree with the NHS part. Did they ask for references like Dict8?

@Frazzledbynature - No I didn't give any reference at all. I remember asking DICT8 for a reference for another agency just in case they needed one and DICT8 said they couldnt give references and that they could only confirm I worked for them from when i started to present but not comment on my work. I suppose the fact I was still working with them spoke volumes as regards to what I was capable of as I was still on their books but I never used them in the end. Im sure youl be fine if they take you on they are really polite and nice to work with. I wish you all the luck but it is still good to keep in with DICT8 as its better to keep a few irons in the fire!

@Frazzledbynature I put my 32 years of med sec roles and also Dict8. It is then obvious to them from that you can type medical. If you were not truthful it wld be obvious once you start working as I’ve wouldn’t cope with the variety on offer and I imagine they’d terminate the contract. Also I know they like people to be able to type across specialties, if you have only ever typed one they are not interested, as they allow you access to all, which is great and why you are never short of work. The support they give you in the role is excellent and they talk to you like normal work colleagues would. I’m never scared to ask if I’m really stuck on something ie an obscure name for a doctor I can’t find on the web. They come back to you and let you know happily. I hope it works out for you. Personally it’s the best move I made. At the moment I’m sick and unable to work I would have been panicking with Dict8 losing pay but I know there will be plenty of work all weekend too when hopefully I’m better, so I’ll recoup then what I’ve missed. Good luck.

Good morning everyone. I wanted to ask those of you who have recently returned to the NHS, but working from home, whether permanent or bank, do you still have to do the induction day on site and the ongoing online mandatory training? I kind of hoping not lol

*I'm (panics at mistake -once a transcriber always a transcriber 😂)

Thanks for that info on Tpro!! Could I ask if like dict8 you can just log on to Tpro as and when suits you or do you have to inform Tpro in advance when you will be available?

@EmilyJ23 - no you don't have to inform them when to log on. I log on anytime, there is always work and always plenty at the weekend if I want to work then too. I have access to all specialties as all the other ladies here that work for them too. Sometimes they are easier than the ones I am specialised in so if you get on with them, give the new specialties a go as you may surprise yourself how easy they can be. I have never been told to do so many a day or week, although the contract states 150 letters a week for them, which is easily doable if you pick the short ones. They do ask you to concentrate on the ones in red (the letters which are the oldest) regardless of what you specialise in but fortunately two of my specialties are usually always left and in red so I tend to do them anyway so I am lucky, perhaps my specialities are two that no one likes! I just concentrate on DICT8 first as Tpro pay me a lot less than some of their transcribers on here as I was set on during COVID times when they were also struggling getting work in for the transcribers. I have questioned this but unfortunately, I agreed to it in my contract, so I cannot do anything about it, they just gave me an incentive that if I type a million characters a month they will give a bonus of 10% of what I have earned but it takes some doing and I never actually manage it, as I don't work full time as I have grandchildren commitment during the week, so I only use Tpro when DICT8 has dire dictation (which is usually 80% of the time!) but at least I have Tpro to fall back on to earn a bit more if I need it at least and they are very nice to work for and the dictation is usually pretty clear.

Hi everyone - so glad to find this thread as I’ve just started working from home for DICT8 after taking 18 months maternity leave. I’ve only done 9 letters so far and I’ve had a snarky feedback email comment on every single letter. Does this continue regardless of how long you work for them or will the snootiness stop soon? Thanks!

I just joined Dict8 recently and struggling a bit with the feedback as I am a bit of a perfectionist anyway so it stings to be pulled up on every tiny thing! I dread receiving those daily feedback emails.

Also I was surprised how difficult it is to understand what is being said. And then even if you miss one word you get the feedback email!

Most the time I just give up before I even start because I cannot decipher the patient's name :(

@Staralfur no the feedback will crop up from time to time no matter how long. There's nothing to type in my specialty. I've actually gone back to my old job and trying to convince team lead to put overflow onto tpro instead of dict8. Had my fill of dict8.

Oh dear. Can they terminate your contract for mistakes? I feel like the mistakes I’ve made are not really mistakes - more that I didn’t follow the template because how it was dictated didn’t fit the template (I.e no patient information so I missed the RE: line). If I was still at work as a secretary I would have been commended for speed and accuracy considering I haven’t done the specialty they lumped me with in 5 years!

@Staralfur The feedback never ends I did Dict8 for 6 years and every time it made me feel awful. If it wasn’t for this thread I’d have been very low about it. You just have to realise they are justifying their job and rise above it’s. It happens to everyone.