Heading Towards a Problem

Fireflyaway · 17 April 2018 at 5:50PM

I'm not sure why everyone is skirting around the issue but it seems the obvious answer is to increase your income! You only take home £150 a month so no wonder things are tight. You don't mention children so I assume you have no childcare responsibility. Why can't you work more? Most full time courses don't require you to be present all day every day. When I was at college I worked in a shop 6pm - 8pm mon - Fri and all day sunday in another shop. I took home more than £150 and that was 20 years ago! I was paid £2.50p an hour! I
You mention your partners pay rise etc but what about you? There are lots of part time opportunities in shops, catering, factories etc. You might not be able to decrease your outgoings but you can definitely bring more money in.

braken2000 · 17 April 2018 at 5:57PM

Hi fireflyaway

One of the biggest problems is the way the course operates in terms of time in uni and time on placement. So, for example my timetable might look like this:
Week 1=
Monday 08:00-18:00
Tuesday 13:00-18:00
Wednesday Off
Thursday 08:00-18:00
Friday 08:00-13:00
Week 2 -
Monday Off
Tuesday 13:00-18:00
Wednesday Off
Thursday 08:00-18:00
Friday 08:00-13:00

Placement blocks are similar in yes of it is following a full time shift rota on the ambulance. So whilst yes I do have spare time here and there, it is not guaranteed it is the same time every week, some weeks I am in every day and off weekends, but then others in only half a week. And on placement it could be night shifts Mon-Wed, then day shifts on Fri-Sun.

The work I have at the moment is bank work so I can book the shifts around my timetable when I know it, and fortunately I do as I am following a rota line. I have tried to get other part time work but they want a committment of X hours per week on the same day and time every week which I can not guarantee.

The course is also 45 weeks (not including consolidation) so get very few "long holidays" like normal students which is a pain, but part of the course.

I have however gone through the shifts available until October and managed to get a few more which is good

. Just not as much as I would like tbh.

Sunkencosts · 18 April 2018 at 10:12AM

Hi OP, I think you're right to do token payments and take the credit hit. This course will be so important to your future the last thing you want to do is compromise it or your health by working too much outside of it.

Having said that, have you signed up for an agency to be able to do last minute shifts in the NHS? I think it pays a lot better than hospital bank work (10/11 per hour and more at weekends from what I remember).

Good luck with sorting this out. Take action now and you won't end up in my shoes - 47k debt eek!!

braken2000 · 18 April 2018 at 10:15AM

Hi sunkencosts

I do not think there is anywhere for me to bank in NHS

. I can not go out as a tech as not driving for them yet. Private bank I have got at the moment is alright, 12 hour shifts and not bad pay. Just a long drive. But it is a job and I will not complain

.

Sunkencosts · 18 April 2018 at 10:22AM

Hi,

oh I suppose I was thinking of care assistant/ NA work (when I was nursing training that's what fitted in well with my skill set and hours) but regular 12 hour shifts are good to have.
How exciting being a paramedic!!

Sncjw · 18 April 2018 at 11:22AM

It!!!8217;s not just the shift work and then placements it!!!8217;s the additional work they need to do. They need to do coursework, work to prove they have the skills and have it signed off, revision for exams all the while on placement. Then when they are at uni they have prep for the next classes. Health care courses are classed as full time and time uni expects you to study full time as well. They also don!!!8217;t finish in may like other students plus I hear many students only in one or two days a week but health care course is demanding. The uni day the course is priority and if you add work onto it your going to burn out if your not careful. I only worked one day a week and even then I was stressed

Sncjw · 18 April 2018 at 11:23AM

Plus you don’t get paid during placement times.

Sunkencosts · 18 April 2018 at 11:33AM

It's so unfair - when I was training we at least got a bursary of around £600 a month. Now they get nothing.

Sncjw · 18 April 2018 at 11:44AM

I!!!8217;m sure health care courses get a student loan like others but because this is her second degree course she has to pay for it herself

braken2000 · 18 April 2018 at 11:52AM

If I were studying Nursing or an AHP I would get a student loan again. However because paramedics are not classed as "allied health professionals" they get very little. It is bizarre as there is a shortage at the moment and a lot of people like me who would return to studies but can not afford it.