Working for the NHS

KerryR

Hi,

I am currently employed and have been with the same company for the last 18 months.

There isn't really much room for progression within my company and I really would like to work for the NHS as a clerical officer/receptionist.

I have applied countless times for different posts and I have worked for the NHS as a clerical officer in the past on a temporary assignment and I have plenty of experience and qualifications in customer service, admin etc although not in a hospital environment.

I would like to ask your advice on how I should go about this, would registering with an agency that employ staff to work in hospitals rather than going direct be a better way for a person with little experience in this sector?

Thanks in advance.

scheming_gypsy

Badenoch and Clarke supply the NHS with staff in the Lancashire area. not sure if it's just IT or if they cover all areas

~Beanie~

It may well be a foot in the door if you can get temp jobs in the NHS.

I know when I worked for an NHS Trust, a lot of jobs that were advertised were only open to people working for them already, including temps/agency workers.

Like this one currehntly being advertised:

Administrator
**** SDHFT & TSDHCT EMPLOYEES ONLY **** Posted: 12/11/2013Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust**** SDHFT & TSDHCT EMPLOYEES ONLY **** This post is advertised for current employees of South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust. This includes; permanent, temporary and bank staff. We will not consider applications from outside these organisations. If you are an experienced and motivated administrator we are looking for you...

anamenottaken

Brook Street is another high street agency which supplies staff to the NHS.

Many NHS organisations have their own bank staff. These people are employed on zero hours and act like a pool of temporary workers. They may be able to offer regular work even so.

It would be a good idea to find out which local NHS organisations use bank admin staff and apply direct. They are likely to generally prefer to use bank staff because they are not paying a fee to an agency each time they need a temporary worker.

KerryR

Thank you all for your kind advice

Andy_L

KerryR wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently employed and have been with the same company for the last 18 months.

There isn't really much room for progression within my company and I really would like to work for the NHS as a clerical officer/receptionist.

The NHS has similar problems. You're be waiting for someone senior to resign/die & then competing with everyone else for the post, assuming they don't just gap the post anyeay

jackyann

You say "hospitals" but the bulk of NHS work is in the community.
GPs organise their own staff; they normally advertise in the local paper, so I would look there, and consider dropping your cv into some GP surgeries. Most do not offer NHS contracts, but the experience is invaluable in applying for other NHS work

Contact your local community NHS trust (they may well be called something else now, but whoever organises services in your area) and ask if they have a "bank" for clerical / admin staff. Most do.

If, for any reason, hospital work is what you definitely want, this will be useful experience.

caringa

In my opinion, I wouldnt bother unless you can GUARANTEE that you wont be off sick! My daughter got a job as an outpatients administrator on 1 July this year. She got on really well with all her team, spent 4 months training and at her 3 months review, had a glowing report. However, unfortunately she had a run of illnesses (all requiring visits to the doctor). This triggered their Bradford Factor policy which dictates that after so many episodes of sickness, you have to attend a formal review.

If you are off sick for one day, go back the next and then are off the following day, this is classed as two episodes. Also, if you are off sick on a Friday and the Monday is a Bank Holiday, you are classed as having 5 days off, even if you dont work weekends or Bank Holidays!


Anyway, she had a meeting last week and because she hadnt managed to stick to the ZERO absence set at the previous meeting, her contract was terminated! Her work colleagues were all devastated, especially the woman who had trained her for 4 months. Goodness knows what the morale is like in that office now.


So - apply to work for the NHS if you like, but make sure you join the union or else you will have no one to support you. No wonder the NHS is in a mess if they can throw money away training people and then ditching them. Hard work just doesnt pay these days!!!

19lottie82

Are the NHS not terrible payers also?