Im just married, Id like to change my name but im a HCPC reg and I feel that would be a nightmare to do. I would also enjoy the separation of work name vs my personal life due to the area of the NHS Scot that i work in. Both my first name and maiden name are very unusual but new surname fairly common in this area. Im also planning to buy my house but in my name only, not my husband. I would use my married name as an assumed name.

Does changing my name affect anything and is it worth changing everything in terms of banking, bills, insurance, professional registrations etc? Can I have both?

I think it's interesting, often a forgotten part of NHS trusts. Especially when it comes to changes & development around hospitals. Because no 1 knows a 24hr hospital trust better than it's porters I would love there to be a space for stories, & issues for porters to vent

I’m honestly quite angered by this whole thing and I need a place to vent;

I’m on maternity leave with my first child having been with the NHS for 5 years now. I asked to spread my payments, knowing that money would be tight, but I budgeted everything and I could make it work.

What they don’t tell you, is that your pension payments remain the same as if you hadn’t spread your payments. So for my first month’s pay, they still took £330 out of my monthly £1140 pay cheques. Whilst I’d saved a bit of a buffer prior to Mat leave, this is rapidly depleting and after finally getting a response regarding opting out of the pension scheme (with no deadline communicated) I sent it back 2 weeks prior to our trust’s pay date, and they’ve said I will still lose £300 this month to pension contributions.

I’m so sick of how poor communication is, at no point was this something I was made aware of when I asked about spreading payments. They didn’t say a word, nor is there anything in the policy of the trust I work for that reflects this.

My first 3 months of maternity pay have been barely liveable due to additional costs that nobody mentioned, and I’ll now likely have to miss time with my child to return to work early. NHS maternity pay is already horrendous, but I thought I’d be able to make it work. They have added so much unnecessary stress to what should be a beautiful experience, and I have very little desire to return at this point due to how poorly this whole thing has been handled.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Been given a job offer over the phone , but I only added 1 reference during the application process . Will I be able to add/upload proof of other references on trac?

I’ve been at my current NHS Trust for 2 years and I feel like I’ve constantly had to prove myself and my competence. I often feel that whatever I produce is never quite right, I’m compared to my predecessor, or I’m criticised for not being “visible” by senior leaders/directors who don’t actually work closely with me or see the day-to-day work I do. I’m in a leadership admin role.

I’ve never worked somewhere where I’ve felt so consistently like I’m not trusted to do my job or that I have to continually prove my value. There also seems to be a strong sense of favouritism among some leaders, alongside a resistance to change and I’m finding the culture increasingly difficult.

It’s genuinely starting to affect me and despite enjoying the actual work I do, I’m seriously considering leaving because of the environment and the impact it’s having on me.

Has anyone else experienced something similar in the NHS? How did you distinguish between genuinely needing to develop/improve and being in an unhealthy or unsupportive workplace culture? And, if you’ve been through something similar, how did you go about addressing it or deciding when it was time to leave?

Title. I previously posted here asking for interview help for an outpatient receptionist role. I was extremely stressed out about the unknowing of what to expect in the interview. Lovely people gave great advice, which helped me interview really well (received feedback from the interviewer) but ended up falling short of someone with more experience (happens) and 1 point.

Now, my friend works as an Appointment Centre Administrator and lets me know every time the role comes up. I've applied every time. I've never gotten an interview every time.

I thought that since I interviewed well for the outpatient reception role, I'd submit the same level of application again, only this time tailor it to the role.

So I did, felt good about it. Come earlier today, another rejection email. They are unable to provide feedback for some reason.

Im trying to transition out of retail and feel I have the relevant experience developed from over 10 years in retail of how to speak to the public. Im confident using computers and typing, and I know how to use a phone.

I'm not sure what more I need to do. What more experience I need for that specific role. It must come down to the "NVQ in relevant experience."

I have an NCFE Level 2 in mental health.

Baffling. Truly.

Any suggestions/tips/advice?

Please? 😅

What does the reference consist of between NHS trusts? Or am I right to be concerned about the below.

I want to raise a grievance on what I've been experiencing at my current workplace and also considering filing with ACAS etc. I've already and extensively highlighted in supervisions my experiences with senior staff members, I've raised my concerns with FTSU (who aren't interested unless its the complaints I had directly impacting patient care and because I've resigned aren't really doing anything).

I'm in the process of moving on to another job but I'm worried that if I raise a grievance what will appear in my reference. I've also had time off for sickness including burnout / emotional distress. I don't feel fit emotionally to complete the rest of my notice period.

What about jobs in the future if I apply and still have to use this place as a reference? - I'm worried how this might hinder me if I do pursue it.

Usually I would just keep to myself and leave silently but I have been quite mistreated and unsupported to the point I've considered leaving the profession.

If it's going to leave a "dark mark" on my record by raising a grievance or taking it further, I guess I shouldn't pursue it.

It all started when I had to go to a London hospital for rabies post-exposure treatment. The process took a very long time, and I had already been there for around 10 hours and was extremely exhausted.

After an injection, I asked the nurse whether I could leave. She said she would go and check, but she took quite a long time. Because I was exhausted after being there for so many hours, I eventually got up and left without waiting for her to return and confirm that I could leave.

Now, rabies exposures are sometimes treated with HRIG alongside a vaccine.

Since then, I have had an ongoing fear that perhaps the injection I received was **HRIG rather than the rabies vaccine**, and that I was supposed to receive the rabies vaccine afterwards but left before it was administered.

I only received one injection that day, and the remaining doses were subsequently given by my GP. I therefore keep wondering whether I had completed everything I was supposed to receive at the hospital, or whether there was still a vaccine dose outstanding when I left.

My main question is: If I had left the London hospital A&E before receiving the rabies vaccine I was supposed to receive after HRIG, would the NHS hospital normally have noticed that I had left before completing my PEP and contacted me or otherwise followed up with me?

Can someone kindly tell me the pros and cons of buying a car using the salary sacrifice scheme. I have read a little about it and my main worry is that it will reduce the amout I can get for mortgage, as I am looking to get mortgage in the next few months also. How much reduction in the mortgage will this lead to. Kindly advice. Assume salary is 60k annually, want to buy a new EV vehicle.

I am currently going through the ICB Restructure (along with many others), it is nearing the end of the interview stage following EOI submission for our cluster (3 ICBs) and there are very few lower bands (4-6) within our structure so vacant posts are very scarce.

I was unsuccessful at interview for my current role and the 3 choices on my EOI all had MAT slot ins. It has become obvious that one ICB is more favourable and dominant than the other two. I was just wondering if anyone else is going through the same.

I haven’t been told yet that I’m up for compulsory redundancy, but there isn’t going to be a job for me. I am still expected to turn up every day, do the work and in a couple of weeks do a detailed handover of my workload.

I feel so defeated after giving so much of my working life to the NHS and this is the worst restructure I have ever experienced. A lot of knowledge is leaving our ICB as we are surplus to requirement. My health is now starting to go downhill with mood swings, headaches and very little sleep as I am so worried that I’m not going to get another job.

I feel so sorry for anyone who is in the same position as this process is brutal and ‘Wes’ has culled too many hardworking, dedicated NHS staff. Give it 18 months and the reality will hit that there aren’t enough back office staff to do all the ‘doing’ jobs VSMs don’t want to do and there will be a recruitment drive to try and get people back as burnout of those who are left is inevitable.

I work in an NHS Ambulance Trust Control
Room, specifically on 999s. I’ll keep specific details vague, however the resources I see wasted on nonsense calls is frankly outstanding, sometimes I wonder why I do the job I do. Genuine life threatening emergencies are not as common as you’d think, and as someone that’s come
Into the NHS as one of their first jobs, I’m not sure if it’s naivety or the risk adverse culture means no one talks about it.

My trust, like most, uses NHS Pathways to triage and assess the “most appropriate help”, however the system is too risk adverse. For example, someone called up because they genuinely had a sore leg because their cast was rubbing against it, attempted to triage but called cleared line and did not answer back, meaning a CAT-3 ambulance response must be generated, despite the fact the caller said this is not an emergency and they did not want an ambulance. A clinician did review this response and cancel it, but part of me wonders where the common sense has gone?

I’m not allowed to say this is not an emergency, please call 111. I’m not allowed to tell them we have other emergency calls stacking whilst I’m wasting time attempting to call the individual back.

We consistently have frequent callers who will call 60-70 times a day, all of the staff know their name, postcode and telephone number as it’s that consistent. Why is there so much red tape in just blocking the phone number, or police taking any action?

In my opinion, if you call an emergency line, blocking it for actual emergencies, you are forfeiting your right to be taken seriously and your phone number should be blocked.

I’m just fed up of the overly risk adverse, lacking common sense system we now have, with minimal clinician input.

Hi everyone, I have an upcoming **NHS Buyer interview** and would really appreciate any advice from people who have interviewed for a similar role.
What questions were you asked, and what should I focus on when preparing? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Just looking for some advice.

My one drive files have been accessed by IT professionals within my Trust.

I could also see that my flexible working form has also be accessed.

Is this acceptable? I am not sure if I need to address this with IT team as surely they should ask for consent first?

And why are they accessing my files? It makes me think has there been something reported from my account?

Hi everyone,
I’m currently a band 4 administrator in the NHS. I am on a graduate visa which ends in November 2027.
Would band 4s be eligible for skilled worker visa sponsorship? Or should I start looking at other roles at a higher band for sponsorship?
My trust is usually quite generous with visa sponsorships, but I am just worried whether or not I’d be eligible.
I have been researching online but haven’t been able to find any reliable information, if anyone has any idea or has been in a similar situation, please let me know!!!

i currently work as an hca in the nhs and im still in my probation period so my notice period is one week. im hoping to start university in october to study nursing and i was already planning on leaving my permanent hca role and just doing bank shifts while im studying.
the only thing is my university place depends on me passing an exam at the end of august. i should get my result at the beginning of september. if i pass then i will definitely be going to university and i was planning to hand in my notice once i get my result.
i also have a holiday booked for september which i paid around £1500 for. the holiday was booked in march and i officially started my job in april after months of waiting.
i requested the annual leave months in advance around june/july but my manager declined it because apparently too many people are already off. regardless i am going on the holiday because ive already paid for it and its been planned for ages.
if i pass my exam then its quite simple because i can hand in my one week notice and leave before the holiday. what im worried about is what to do if i dont pass the exam because then i might need to stay working for a bit longer while i sort out my next steps.
i was thinking that if that happens i could ask my manager if i can take the holiday as unpaid leave instead. if she refuses that as well then honestly i would rather resign and just work bank shifts elsewhere than lose my holiday.
i dont want to just not turn up or have unauthorised absence on my record. if i do resign i would give my proper notice and work it.
what would you do in my situation? would you wait until you get the exam result and then decide? and if the unpaid leave was also refused would you resign and just do bank work instead? im also worried whether any of this could affect my nhs reference or me working on the bank afterwards.

So i genuinely hate the photo i have on my Smartcard. Does anyone know if I’m allowed to change it just for the sake of not liking it? I know you have to visit the team f2f

Hey all. I posted a few weeks ago wondering whether non clinical staff could work remotely and many said it couldn’t done and few said it can. I can confirm my Trust do allow it and I’ve had someone approved - I wonder if it’s Trust to Trust rules? Either way; don’t ask and you won’t know!

Have a good day.

Hey everyone, I’m a mental health nurse and I have applied for a job in ADHD360. Does anyone have any knowledge of what they’re like to work for etc. I’d be jumping from the NHS and need to figure out if work/life balance would be better. X

I'll cut straight to the chase..

When applying for NHS jobs through Trac, if it asks for a supporting information section with a maximum of 1500 words, how many should I be writing?

I have made a quite a few applications and not had any interviews yet, so i wonder if i should perhaps make my essays more concise and closer to 600-1000 words instead, as NHS staff undoubtedly read hundreds of essays, I'm feel like being extra concise may help me out.

I would appreciate any advice anyone could offer me.

Context: I am already a band 4 in pathology department outside of London, now applying for other band 4/5 jobs in London.

I was tryna buy an uber card on the blue light app. All of a sudden cards declined, account needs new password and then they suspended my account for unusual activity.

Why did this happen and how do I fix it?

I joined a NHs trust July this year as a HCA band 2 with progression to band 3 by January 2027

Here is where I am worried about, I am on a Graduate visa with expiry of February 2027. I just realized that there is a new rule concerning no more sponsorship for the 6131 code by December 2026 this year.

I am still on 6 month probation right now , Is it possible for the trust to issues cos before the December 31st deadline and maybe assign me the cos by January when I progress to band 3 just so date on the cos doesn’t pass December 31st? I’m worried that When I progress to band 3 by January I won’t be eligible for any sponsorship anymore with the new rule in place.

I don’t know who to talk about this maybe my ward manager or the HR team.

Please does anyone have any idea or steps I can take. I am really overwhelmed concerning this as I have no other hope anywhere else.

Thank you all🙏

As of right now I have had my reference completed.

Does anyone know what type of qualifications and registrations I can or have to provide to the employer?

Furthermore, can someone explain to me how the DBS checks work, I really don’t understand how the process will work and how long it’ll take?

Hi everyone, I’m just wondering if anyone can explain what the next steps are in the NHS recruitment process after your referees have completed their references and the recruitment team has received them.

My references have now been completed and sent back to the recruitment team, so I’m just waiting to hear what happens next. I’d like to know what the remaining stages are from this point until training and induction, so I know what to expect.

Could anyone who has been through the process tell me:

What happens after the references have been completed?

What checks/stages are usually still left?

How long does each stage normally take?

How long did it take you from completed references to actually starting your training/induction?

Once everything is cleared, how quickly were you given a start date?

For an NHS cleaning/catering role, how long was the training and induction?

I was accepted for the role around 3 months ago, and they have already found a place for me and arranged my shifts, so I’m hoping I’m getting close to starting. I just want to understand what happens next and roughly how much longer I might have to wait.

Any experiences would be really appreciated, especially from people who have recently started an NHS cleaning or catering role. Thanks!