Moved to a permanent NHS Band 8a role and now bored

[YesYesIDid]

NHS middle management, non-clinical (Band 8a). My role is quite changeable and a bit of a 'jack of all trades' as it's been created around five years ago and nobody can seem to quite agree on the actual job description.

Been doing the role on secondment for three years and kind of made it my own, I know that I provide valuable support for operational and clinical managers so they can get on and do the 'on the floor' management stuff while I e.g. write their reports, data analysis, etc. Recently been offered the same post permanently covering another area of the same Trust so of course jumped at the chance...

The new area works differently in that the staff are pooled rather than having a post for each service.... but not only that, the role seems to be a glorified admin role and not much more! For example, training figures get emailed over every week, I would do a deep dive and identify trajectories in terms of compliance and where additional courses would need to be provided... the new area just send it on to the clinical managers to do the same.

I thrive off being busy, usually more than busy. I'm ASD and ADHD but have that peculiar advantage which means I can hyperfocus and get stuff done in half the time of most NT people (it's just the way I've always been). But because of the way the new job is, that means I AM SO BORED. I literally ask what else can I do but our manager is so hard to pin down I literally don't know. I can't carry on like this!

I'm still looking for other opportunities but as what I do is quite niche and redundancy is a real thing these days the posts are few and far between. I just don't know what to do without exposing my colleagues not to be doing the job properly (not their fault, it's not deliberate - they can only do what is asked of them and won't be aware of every additional task I did in my previous area) - but these people are being paid £62k a year to do basic admin....

I would say that once you break the 7/8 threshold it’s a chance to reach new opportunities (I say that as someone stuck at b7, busy but bored). Just having a. B8 on your cv will help so keep an eye out and coast for a bit as you prepare for your next step. Is there a training course you can do? I did a pgdip in healthcare leadership as an apprenticeship 1 day a week fully funded. I really enjoyed it and it was interesting/challenging.

@TeenLifeMum I have five years at 8a under my belt already but they've been in chunks of 6-12m at a time as I've been on various secondments. I've been looking for something else for a good long while but there isn't much around.

The 8b roles in my Trust are usually take up by clinical managers and I do have a bit of a lack in ops management due to the type of roles I've done previously - I've just done an operational leadership and management qualification but of course that's no substitute for experience (and I can't take a pay cut to build that experience). My next plan is to my project and programme management qualifications but I'm having a little rest first!

The neighbouring Trust has an 8b role that would be perfect for me but after seeing it advertised once a few years back (when I was in no way ready) it's never come up again

Must have been VSM - pay band levels ARE different in Wales and England, look at the money scales, they are not the same, we get paid less in Wales - it was over a decade ago and paid via a third agency who don't put your 'scale or spine point' on your invoice. Deflect much from being lazy at your level?

Band 8 is middlle management in my speciality; band 7 is a specialised scientific role. So it depends on speciality.

Once again, your reading comprehension really is dreadful. You call me lazy despite the fact I have said repeatedly I WANT TO DO MORE

Also once again, if you'd ever been in an actual VSM role you would remember that. The numbers may be different but the bands are not

So sad the NHS pisses their money away on these BS roles. I wish they’d pay clinical people properly. No offence meant to you personally Op, I’m adhd & I’d be the same. You’ll figure it out, think laterally

Oh believe me they've more than been getting their monies worth from me until I moved to this role - 14 hour days, working weekends, etc. If my role didn't exist then clinical people would have even less time to focus on their patients

No it isn't you held on to '10' when I said two other things alongside. That's lazy and not inviting a proper conversation and you were aggressive from the get go. I thought you said you weren't going to engage anymore? I may not remember a salary band from a long time ago but I would remember saying I wasn't going to engage in the same evening.

@Arlanymor look just give it up. You were no more in a VSM role than I'm the current Health Secretary. Once again, let me refer you to the things you called me in your first comment, plus your accusations.

100% this. Band 7 Specialist MH Prac here (for a couple of decades). Front line psychiatry.

I never have time for lunch / cuppas.

Havent been able to afford a foreign holiday since 2011.

Threads like this are difficult reads for us clinical staff aren’t they 🥴.

Once again, please read my updates. I have said that I actively want to take on more work to reduce the burden on my clinical colleagues. I have also until recently been working 14 hour days, working weekends, etc. with no access to paid overtime.

Also as per my previous post, there's nothing at all stopping you from moving into a post like mine.

nhs really does need good, strong managers supporting the clinical services. Do you really want clinicians planning how you get your letters and how the booking system integrates with the nhs app rather than non clinical experts in the field?

I really feel for you OP, because this happened to me. 8a and was given less and less to do until I had nothing. It was after a merger and it was basically decided that most of my responsibilities should go to clinical people, so I was stripped off more and more until I had nothing left. I was actually going mad. They said I would be made redundant eventually but it would take up to a year. In the end I was put into another role (which I left, because I hated it) - but I don't doubt you OP, and I don't doubt how distressing you are finding it. Good luck.

But no need for everybody to take their frustrations out on the OP, who has stated many times that she is frustrated in the role! Her first post was very clear and she was piled on.