Furlough NHS staff?

hanran16

I currently work for the NHS, I have been on annual leave and unpaid leave for two weeks due to childcare issues and my partner still working. 

I was due to return to work on Thursday however they text me saying there are no shifts. I am a substantive member of staff not bank. I was asked to take more annual leave or unpaid leave as there are no shifts available due to little patients. 

Can they furlough me? I can not afford to take unpaid leave and don’t want to take anymore annual leave or sure if that is fair? 

Thank you 

daveyjp

As an NHS employee you can't be furloughed.  If you are unable to do your normal work the NHS should be finding work for you.

unforeseen

They should be finding alternate roles for you. When my daughter came back off sick she ended up on a geriatric ward because her normal surgical ward had closed.
You need to get your manager to talk to the manning people. Staff are being re-deployed on a regular basis currently

hanran16

They have redeployed me twice, both wards had no shifts and wards are closing each day due to small number of patients. They’ve rang the bank manager who said there are no shifts at all. 

Mrsn

This is where the grey areas come in again.... the NHS shouldn’t be offering furlough owing to them being a government organisation.

That said it’s seems terribly unfair that they cannot source more work for you and you are now looking at rather poor options. If you choose to take unpaid leave you can look at Universal Credit to compensate for the drop in income. Please be aware though I’d you are receiving tax credits then a claim for UC will close that award.

onwards&upwards

hanran16 said:

They have redeployed me twice, both wards had no shifts and wards are closing each day due to small number of patients. They’ve rang the bank manager who said there are no shifts at all. 

I find that incredibly hard to believe.

What setting do you work in?  

hanran16

onwards&upwards said:

hanran16 said:

They have redeployed me twice, both wards had no shifts and wards are closing each day due to small number of patients. They’ve rang the bank manager who said there are no shifts at all. 

I find that incredibly hard to believe.

What setting do you work in?  

A hospital, which part are you finding hard to believe? 

joeyboy

onwards&upwards said:

hanran16 said:

They have redeployed me twice, both wards had no shifts and wards are closing each day due to small number of patients. They’ve rang the bank manager who said there are no shifts at all. 

I find that incredibly hard to believe.

What setting do you work in?  

I can believe it, after all hospitals are cancelling practically all non-urgent surgeries/procedures (I'm on furlough due to this, not an NHS worker mind). So although some nurses with skills they believe most relevant to caring for respiratory cases will be seconded to A&E or these new temporary hospitals, I can imagine some may not have a place. After all you can't just send everyone into Covid related wards, staff would end up tripping other each other. We have a general shortage of nurses/doctors sure, but if there's no real work occurring in the NHS bar Covid and emergencies (I mean even urgent cancer treatment and organ transplants have stopped for many), then that's a lot of spare capacity not all of which can pick up the slack.

Apologies OP I'm not familiar with your pay structure, so are you salaried or is it based on what shifts they can provide you with, I had imagined you were salaried. If you are and they cannot find you shifts/work...I really don't see how that's your problem and so you shouldn't be being forced to take unpaid leave, it seems the NHS cannot furlough but if you HAVE to sit at home on full pay well..again if they cannot provide the work at the moment it seems their issue. Does your trust have any support lines to ask for advice? For example here the Nottingham University Trust has staff helplines, not sure how helpful they'd be for this scenario admittedly. I think this is quite an unusual scenario tbh but also to me reflects quite poorly on management especially during this time, I can see the headlines now "NHS hero nurses forced to stay home PENNILESS with no furlough as managers tell them there's no work in this CRISIS?!". I'd try seeing if there's any NHS staff support advice lines and if not even try your local MP, as although there may be help on here again it seems quite niche, you might need other routes of support. I mean if there's going to be no work for some time I don't know if you can be laidoff and get guarantee pay (£29 a day)? I mean it's only about £600 or so a month if you're doing full time but it's something, I don't know if that beats UC. But yes it seems a ridiculous situation.

kelpie35

Can you not tranfer your skills to either a nursing home or a home carer?

joeyboy

kelpie35 said:

Can you not tranfer your skills to either a nursing home or a home carer?

I suppose the trouble would be if she's on unpaid leave, it may well breach her contract to get another job somewhere like that, I know every job I've worked at bar my part-time supermarket gig demanded exclusivity.

onwards&upwards

hanran16 said:

onwards&upwards said:

hanran16 said:

They have redeployed me twice, both wards had no shifts and wards are closing each day due to small number of patients. They’ve rang the bank manager who said there are no shifts at all. 

I find that incredibly hard to believe.

What setting do you work in?  

A hospital, which part are you finding hard to believe? 

An NHS hospital?  That provides acute care?  Is there no programme for upskilling or redeploying as HCAs to the acute wards?  Are they not being hit especially hard by Covid?  I suppose some very rural, private or specialised hospitals may not be actually.