NHS redeployment

Comms69

Manxman_in_exile said:

As a former NHS manager I'm curious to know what service you provide as a specialist nurse if your whole(?) department is closed and you can't work there.  How is your trust continuing to provide this specialist service?  Presumably your local Clinical Commisioning Group wants the service?

My initial thought was a centrally commissioned service / or self funding - e.g. research. 

Good question though

Andy_L

Manxman_in_exile said:

As a former NHS manager I'm curious to know what service you provide as a specialist nurse if your whole(?) department is closed and you can't work there.  How is your trust continuing to provide this specialist service?  Presumably your local Clinical Commisioning Group wants the service?

AIUI (from my experience in London), some trusts were told to just stop providing specialist services & concentrate on Covid whilst another trust ramped up its provision in that service for cover for them

Manxman_in_exile

Andy_L said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

As a former NHS manager I'm curious to know what service you provide as a specialist nurse if your whole(?) department is closed and you can't work there.  How is your trust continuing to provide this specialist service?  Presumably your local Clinical Commisioning Group wants the service?

AIUI (from my experience in London), some trusts were told to just stop providing specialist services & concentrate on Covid whilst another trust ramped up its provision in that service for cover for them

Well... that sort of makes sense, but is also barmy.  So I'm not surprised.

Presumably (and my own experience tells me I'm expecting a lot here) a shift of service back to the original providers would be co-ordinated with a ramping-down of provision from the covering trust(s).  Maybe I'm being a bit ambitious there.  Or maybe it's just cheaper to keep it this way and nobody has thought to tell the original providers.

Manxman_in_exile

Comms69 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

As a former NHS manager I'm curious to know what service you provide as a specialist nurse if your whole(?) department is closed and you can't work there.  How is your trust continuing to provide this specialist service?  Presumably your local Clinical Commisioning Group wants the service?

My initial thought was a centrally commissioned service / or self funding - e.g. research. 

Good question though

I can't imagine what it could be that was presumably required pre-Covid but not post-Covid.  I mean, a department (in the sense of the physical facility or building) might be closed, but the service would have to be continued wouldn't it?

Do we have specialist research nurses?  I know my old trust's research dept used to second specialist nurses, but they weren't providing that service for the duration of the secondment - unless it was directly involved with the research.

JamoLew

we have specialist research nurses - but we are quite a specialised hospital

Comms69

Manxman_in_exile said:

Comms69 said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

As a former NHS manager I'm curious to know what service you provide as a specialist nurse if your whole(?) department is closed and you can't work there.  How is your trust continuing to provide this specialist service?  Presumably your local Clinical Commisioning Group wants the service?

My initial thought was a centrally commissioned service / or self funding - e.g. research. 

Good question though

I can't imagine what it could be that was presumably required pre-Covid but not post-Covid.  I mean, a department (in the sense of the physical facility or building) might be closed, but the service would have to be continued wouldn't it?

Do we have specialist research nurses?  I know my old trust's research dept used to second specialist nurses, but they weren't providing that service for the duration of the secondment - unless it was directly involved with the research.

Here (i work in research now) we have 8 Nurses who do research full time. 

Manxman_in_exile

OK - although I don't think I'd describe myself as a specialist nurse if it was research.

Looks like they've bu99ered off now anyway...

JamoLew

Specialist - a title too commonly thrown around to label groups of people/staff that are anything but special.

Nurses especially within the NHS have "adopted" this label for several reasons:

1) professional kudos/bragging right -- oooo we have all these specialists, do you not have them ? (smug face)
2) empire building - something nurses are very very good at -- wonder why the general public only think Doctors and Nurses work in hospitals
3) money - pure and simple £££. When the original AFc job matching was done many years ago, any job role with "specialist" in the title immediately started the matching process against a Band 7 job profile

@Manxman_in_exile - i am sure with your background you may be aware of these points and may/may not agree on any/all, but this is how it's viewed from a none nursing NHS role.

met a Bus Driver yesterday who informed me he was a Specialist Bus Driver
Me: Oh that's interesting, what makes you a specialist ?
Him: I only drive red buses
Fair comment

Manxman_in_exile

JamoLew - ha ha ha 

I agree with all your comments!  20 years ago, after responsibility for non-medical education and training was devolved from a regional to a local level, I worked as a contract manager for a NHS training consortium.  I managed contracts with our local HEIs for nursing and midwifery and AHP training.  So far as I'm concerned, if there isn't a specialist qualification, you ain't a specialist!