NHS interview- what's it like working in the NHS in a back office function?

[Ridiculous24]

Never worked for the NHS before, but do work in education, so not used to glamour.

Will it be OK? Is it horrendous? I'm GC which is worrying me also. Just hear of crazy stress levels and bullying.

Anyone?

What type of function? I work in the nhs ( nurse) and it’s generally toxic tbh

Good from my POV. Stress levels can be high, but very supportive culture. But it’s a professional/technical back office and the big boss is sane, smart and pragmatic (new email signature format came round with “pronouns - optional” with the optional in bold red) so…

What’s the role?

I work in the NHS and have actively discouraged my children from following in my footsteps. It’s generally a toxic environment, high levels of stress. I honestly don’t know a single colleague that isn’t taking some form of antidepressant or anti anxiety medication.

But it very much depends on the role.

Thanks for the replies. It's just an admin supervisor role.

What band is it? Are you managing other admin ( in my experience and observations, they can be a pretty challenging bunch. Very efficient but there’s a real toxic culture in nhs admin teams

i cant agree on the toxic atmosphere, i guess too many women although men can be as bad

I also don't agree on the toxic atmosphere!

Band 4

A good friend absolutely loves her NHS admin job. She's part time though, which might help.

Oh, and I had an aunt whose last job before retirement was as PA to a consultant eye surgeon - she was very happy there.

Get anti anxiety meds and CBD gummies, start vaping, maybe sleeping meds. Should be fine then. Yes it's toxic and full on. I'm on the wards though.

If you don’t mind constant abuse on the phone and many, many layers or management on at you, the doom that’s always there when you go to bed at night because you don’t know what’s coming at you the following day, the fact that doing your best will ever be good enough and supervising people who will always know better than you, then go for it.

OTOH, if you value your mental health, stay away

Completely depends on the team and the Trust. Can be fine.

Very much dependant on the other admin team members, clinical staff, patients and the location ie. GP Surgery, Outpatients Clinic, Hospital etc.. I generally found my admin role fine I was part time though.

It really does depend on the role. I can’t complain about my NHS admin job. I am able to work from home, have flexible working and it’s very low stress with great managers. We don’t deal with patients though.

I am B6 admin in the NHS and love my job, I've been in the role for a year after a very long career at a Uni. I lovd my job, it's busy but so supportive, I manage a brilliant team and have great managers above me. I work in a MH unit and it is busy and stressful at times but it really is the best job I've ever done.

This would be in oncology. Maybe it's more patient facing than I'd anticipated.

It’s fabulous for weight loss. I lost 2 stone and had a nervous breakdown

Me too. I had to take early retirement in the end.

Band 4 you might be ok. Depends on the admin team - there isn’t usually much line management before band 5.

Will very much depend on the team. NHS admin can either be brilliant or a bullying hell. Behaviours which wouldn’t last a day outside of the NHS are commonplace, if you’re dealing with PAs it can get very tricky as they are often protected by their consultants (who don’t give a fuck about the wider impact but just want their own work done).

The inefficiency is mind boggling. Example - I had a PA who insisted on printing every email she got, no support to do anything about it as she was protected. I’ve had consultants go to the private hospital when they were in NHS admin time (with cancer results on their desks patients were waiting for).

If you find a team which works well it is a great place to work - I’ve had some lovely teams and 1 or 2 hellish teams.

I work in emergency care in the NHS (admin role) and have recently unfortunately had to experience things from an oncology patient point of view and my god the difference between the two areas is astounding! I'd say oncology is probably one of the most rewarding areas to work in because everyone is simply trying to be as nice as possible.

@CharlotteFlax I'm sorry to hear that, and hope you're doing OK.

This was my thinking, that its about trying to make it as pleasant and easy as possible.

I'm quite comfortable where I am and the money isn't that different really. I'd also be giving up TTO which I'm not sure about. I'm just struggling with a difficult employee. Theres also no progression where I am, which I thought would be available in the NHS.

Progression can happen, but it's rarely simple - usually involves having to apply for the next step up.

I agree that oncology teams can be really nice, I think there's a good chance you'd enjoy it.

@Rembo why does it matter if she prints emails?
obviously not ideal but we had a consultant who did the same, perhaps her consultant insists on it