Job offer decision. Any ward administrators out there please?

[Wemdubz]

I recently left a job I had been doing for 12 years working with offenders. As it was Ministry of Justice, it had a good salary and excellent pension scheme (which was a concern for me to leave aged 54); it was hard to walk away as I loved my job but in the end, recent changes meant it didn’t align with my beliefs around rehabilitation any more.

I’ve now been offered 2 jobs. One as a ward administrator with the NHS (ok salary, good pension). The other with a charity as a domestic violence support worker, a role I’ve done before (ok salary, poor pension and benefits).

I’ve not worked in administration for a long time and am going round in circles debating the benefits of each role. Will I miss working in a direct support role if I go to the NHS? Will I regret moving to a role with a poor pension at my age if I go to the charity?

So after that lengthy intro, what I’m asking is if you’re a ward administrator, do you enjoy it? What are the best and worst bits? I did obviously ask questions about the role at interview but you don’t always get a full picture as time is limited.

Thanks for reading and for any replies.

I'm a nurse rather than a ward admin, but a decent administrator can really change a ward for the better

Thanks for your reply. That’s nice to hear that the role can make a difference.

As a ward clerk you’ll deal with a lot of direct contact with people, with families, patients asking things, first point of contact often for other professionals that come on to the ward

I am a pharmacist not a ward administrator but absolutely agree that an engaged ward clerk makes a difference to clinicians , patients and relatives alike.

I was a ward administrator many years ago and I loved it. You get out what you put in - I loved the patient (and relatives) contact, working with the clinical staff - helping set up ward rounds notes, jist generally being the person on top of everything happening on the ward/s. I went on to other NHS jobs, but that was one of my favourites!

Depends on the ward I think. You will definitely have the chance to make a difference.

Im a midwife and in my last job our ward clerk often had a windy baby on her shoulder whilst she was working, or a cot to rock whilst the mum showered. She was very much one of the ward family.
In my new hospital however, although I walk past the ward clerk I couldn’t be 100% on her name. She’s in a little office at the entrance to the ward and it’s all quite cold and clinical. I’m sure she’s lovely, it’s just a different ward dynamic.

Hard one to judge without starting work though.

But massive congratulations on your two job offers!

I worked as a department administrator in the NHS years ago and I would pick that again over the charity role for many reasons OP.

Firstly, I plan to always steer clear of working for a charity as charities seem to attract dysfunctional managers and one person can have a very negative impact on the culture. They also tend to have very poorly developed HR functions, so a lot of stuff is swept under the rug. Secondly, you will be in a direct support role in the NHS, just in a different way (e.g. in the role I was in I had daily contact with cancer patients and was responsible for ensuring the right patients were booked onto the right clinics, so a high level of responsibility). And a good pension, solid HR function and good benefits are not to be sniffed at.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. I’m almost certain I’m going to go with the NHS role. Hopefully I can become part of the team quickly and be a good support to others.

As an AHP, I found many staff members looked down on ward clerks. Be prepared to have a tough skin and don’t take anything personally. It’s an essential role but some staff and patient relatives will treat you as a maid of all work…

I work for a charity and im actively trying to transfer to the NHS right now. My experience with charity work is that they always want more and more from you for free. Also - unless its a massive organisation I guess -you end up getting pulled into whatever happens to be the latest emergency meaning your own work gets behind and then youre racing against the clock to meet your own deadlines. There's also basically no job security whatsoever (and a rubbish pension) id avoid the charity if it were me.

Thanks for being honest.

Thanks for sharing your experience; I can relate to that.