Band 7 NHS

[Janerox]

Hey! Has anyone been or is a band 7 in the NHS? Even better if an OT! Is it going to ruin my life?! Will I be over worked and really stressed?! Heard such mixed opinions

I’m a band 7 managing a small team. Previously this was my dream job but a restructure has changed that - now it’s okay but new managers are very target driven even though the numbers are all bullshit due to the unpredictable nature of our work. They say stuff like “this isn’t to judge individuals (unless we see really low numbers) but it’s not about that…”

i spend a lot of time protecting my team from the bs and supporting them to work effectively. But I really love people. Band 7 can be frustrating though.

There is no right answer for this question, band 7's have many many different roles across the NHS. My band 7 role I think is quite stressful (A&E) whereas someone who managed a small outpatients unit with less staff and less risk would probably find it less stresful. Also business managers are a band 7 so not always clinical either

In my experience band 7 is awful.

Senior enough to take the crap, too junior to make big decisions.

Senior enough to be accountable and responsible for a team of people. Not senior enough to influence no brainier changes.

The “ people management “ aspect as in managing sickness, annual leave, off duty, clashes and gripes meant that I was very often like an agony aunt. What was going on with me personally and professionally was of no interest to anyone, I was there at everyone’s beck and call regardless.

Meetings, documentation, reviewing and rewriting policies, procedures, risk assessments was relentless.

The worst was without doubt dealing with untoward incidents. Of which there were an avalanche regularly.
RCA’s were soul destroying and frustrating. Head in my hands disbelief many times.

Never would I take that on again. It made me ill.

Responsibility without authority

It depends what the role is really. I’m a band 7 advanced practitioner, yes it’s very stressful and I have a lot of responsibilities but have no managerial duties in my role at all.

I'm a B7 specialist practitioner (Nurse) and my job is pretty good. I manage two lovely band 6's but operationally they report in to someone else so I just do their PADR's and annual leave. My 8a has never done my role and doesn't really understand it so leaves me alone to crack on. My workload is very manageable. Other B7's in my team with other roles are often crying in the toilets.

My advice would be don't go for a role just for the banding, wait for the right role to come up.

Really depends on the job. I'm band 7 OT in a very specialist team with no managerial responsibilities and since going part-time post mat leave I just have two outpatient clinics a week, one virtual which I do from home and one on site. It works incredibly well with having a young family. I am very boundaried though.

I’m a band 7 managing a small team in integrated and community care. I love it. I much prefer it to being a band 6 - I feel I can make much more meaningful changes and my voice is listened to