NHS overtime

Cooper18

Yorkie1 wrote: »

One aspect which I wonder is worth exploring, relates to the fact that she is now a carer for dependent older relatives, which was not the case when she first started undertaking this work.

I know it isn't a case of one set of circumstances / caring responsibilities trumping another, but is there any merit in exploring this as a change of circumstances to argue a different work pattern / process now?

I am not an expert in employment law by any stretch; hopefully those who are experienced may be able to comment whether there's any mileage in this at all.

I think this is what has brought things to a head recently for her. She's torn.

Cooper18

fuzzybear01 wrote: »

I would suggest she writes an incident form each time it happens if she actually feels that it is unsafe practice. Contrary to popular belief, these don't disappear into a black hole but actually get acted upon.

She has done. I've seen copies of at least 6. She's some sort of H&S person in the department (not qualified, just nominated) so has to fill them in all the time for various things. She says she's only had feedback once, about fire alarm calls. All the rest have obviously gone into this black hole of which you speak! ;-)

Person_one

Cooper18 wrote: »

Yes, that's the gist of it sadly! She has pointed this out, numerous times.

If the person responsible for making this staffing decision is a qualified nurse, then it might be worth talking to the NMC about it.

There should also be a whistleblower policy in place, this is a accident waiting to happen. I can't believe there haven't been complaints from patients or relatives.

Cooper18

Person_one wrote: »

If the person responsible for making this staffing decision is a qualified nurse, then it might be worth talking to the NMC about it.

There should also be a whistleblower policy in place, this is a accident waiting to happen. I can't believe there haven't been complaints from patients or relatives.

Patients rarely complain though. They'd see a complaint about this situation as a complaint against that nice lady that stayed late with them.

Did I mention they have no kitchen facilities in this department? Patient can't even get a cuppa!

Errata

This is going to sound very, very harsh but it's a realistic view of what's happening. She is being unprofessional in working in an unsafe nursing situation and putting patients at risk.

keithdc

What sort of department is it?
What band is she?
Has she contacted HR as presumably from an agenda 4 change point of view she should be being paid for her overtime?
What happens when she is on annual leave?

There seem to be three issues here:
- Patient experience will be rubbish,
- Patient safety may be at risk,
- Your friend is being screwed.

Although there is a patient safety risk, unless something actually happens, it is unlikely that anything will get done. Therefore, I would probably sell it as a patient experience issue.

(By the way... if the department is a reasonable distance apart from the main hospital, there may be another approach you can use).


One strategy may be to become a real nuisance.
There will be a sister in charge of the hospital- obviously if she needs a wee then the sister will need to watch the patient if no one else is available. A few wees and several bleeps per evening will soon upset the sister.
She should also be encouraging patients and their relatives to speak with PALS (both hospital and ambulance service) about their patient experience.
As the patients may miss dinner (17:00-21:30), she should perhaps write a policy relating to how the department will provide them with dinner and budgetary issues- ask the manager to sign-off.
From an incident reporting perspective, she should be doing two for each incident. If the organisation has electronic forms (most do) then you can normally choose who the 'handler' is. The first should relate to delayed transport, which should go to whoever manages the trust contract with patient transport services. The second will be a patient safety one, which should go to the clinical manager (? clinical director of area)- this approach will by-pass her manager. In addition, a slight exaggeration of severity may help (frequency will be at its highest level anyway).
Where I work the chief exec is very proactive and would want to hear about such issues. I would send an email, but sell it from a patient experience perspective.

Cooper18

Errata wrote: »

This is going to sound very, very harsh but it's a realistic view of what's happening. She is being unprofessional in working in an unsafe nursing situation and putting patients at risk.

I agree 100%. I have told her as much. But she has tried to sort the situation out, complained, and gone to her managers for advice. The union haven't helped (seems like they have a point mind you) so I don't know where she should turn. Hence why I came here. She doesn't belong to a professional body so can't turn to them. I have half a mind to tell her to go to the bloomin newspapers but I know she wouldn't! If she refuses to do her job she'll get in trouble, if something goes wrong she'll get in trouble. But a disaster hasn't happened yet so the managers likely don't care.

Torry_Quine

I am shocked by this. In my experience anyone in a day unit who for whatever reason is still there when the unit closes is moved to a ward either to wait for transport or to recieve proper care.

Errata

In that case she needs to blow the whistle to the CQC.

Person_one

You don't have to belong to a professional body to ask them for advice.

http://www.nmc-uk.org/General-public/Reporting-a-nurse-or-midwife-to-the-NMC/Situations-we-investigate/