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THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
The National Health Service has been looking after the health of UK residents since July 1948. These days it is oversubscribed, underfunded and struggling with all the 21st Century demands placed upon it.. Here is a little NHS background:-
"Since its launch 60 years ago, the NHS has grown to become the world's largest publicly funded health service. It is also one of the most efficient, most egalitarian and most comprehensive.
The system was born out of a long-held ideal that good health care should be available to all, regardless of wealth - and that principle remains at its core. With the exception of charges for some prescriptions and optical and dental services, the NHS remains free at the point of use for anyone who is resident in the UK - more than 60m people. It covers everything from antenatal screening and routine treatments for coughs and colds to open heart surgery, accident and emergency treatment and end-of-life care.
Although funded centrally from national taxation, NHS services in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are managed separately. While some differences have emerged between these systems in recent years, they remain similar in most respects and continue to be talked about as belonging to a single, unified system.
Scale
Nationwide, the NHS employs more than 1.5m people. Of those, just short of half are clinically qualified, including some 90,000 hospital doctors, 35,000 general practitioners (GPs), 400,000 nurses and 16,000 ambulance staff.
Only the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the Wal-Mart supermarket chain and the Indian Railways directly employ more people.
The NHS in England is far and away the biggest part of the system, catering to a population of 50m and employing more than 1.3m people. The NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland employ 158,000, 71,000 and 67,000 people respectively.
The number of patients using the NHS is equally mind-boggling. On average, it deals with 1m patients every 36 hours - that's 463 people a minute or almost 8 a second. Each week, 700,000 will visit an NHS dentist, while a further 3,000 will have a heart operation. Each GP in the nation's 10,000-plus practices sees an average of 140 patients a week.
Funding
When the NHS was launched in 1948 it had a budget of £437 million (roughly £9 billion at today's value). In 2007/8 it received 10 times that amount - more than £90 billion." |
How to secure a clerical position working for the NHS in Englnad In England,these days, there are a fair amount of temporary workers who work in the NHS, but are actually employed by an agency. Locally Hays Accountancy and Office Angelsseem to have the monopoly on supplying temporary admin workers to the NHS. Of course many of these temps go on to secure permanent employment in the NHS and this is a good way to get started.
Temping for the NHS allows you to get a feel for NHS work. Perhaps working in a hospital willl not suit you if you have direct contact with patients and relatives. Temping should give you a variety of options and enable you to pick the right job for you.
When you register with any of these temping agencies tell them that you are interested in working for the NHS. Basic requirements The experience and qualifications needed will depend on the post applied for, however there are some basic requirements for all NHS clerical jobs:-
- A clean CRB, Criminal Records Bureau, check
- Honesty
- The ability to prioritise workloads.
- To not be judgemental or prejudiced.
- To be able to maintain confidentiality at all times
- To be prepared to undertake any necessary and, or, mandatory, training.
- Flexibility
- To work within the Data Protection Act.
- To follow Health and Safety guidelines
Desirable qualifications and skills
- A good educational background
- Basic computer skills
- An ECDL qualification is often desired.
- Additional qualifications such as AMSPAR, a Medical Secretary or Business Studies qualification.
However, if you Career progression is actively encouraged. Searching to see what jobs are available
- Check out your local job centre and the local press to see what jobs are available.
- Search on line at the NHS website for jobs up and down the country.
- Sector 1 also offers a range of NHS and government jobs around the UK.
- Set the search facilities to specifically find the right job for you.
Applying for the post Each Trust has its own Intranet and staff have easy access to jobs that are available. This means that many apply for different posts and also pass the details onto friends and family. However anyone can access the main website which holds details of NHS jobs up and down the country
Select the appropriate criteria for you and start searching.
Application forms used to have to be completed by hand but these days the NHS does accept online applications. However this means that the standard of neatness in handwriting has declined. Some interviews will require a small test, such as a typing examination, but these are only for certain roles and are not usually anything to worry about.
Fill in your Application Form honestly. If it is discovered that you lied on this application you may lose your job, however long you have worked for the NHS. Put as much information as you can in the free text, supporting information, page. This is often what determines who gets interviewed, if all applicants meet the job specification criteria.
You will need two referees and it is as well to contact them first saying that you are thinking of using them as references and asking their permission to do so. This is a common courtesy and will save them declining when you need your reference.
Although the NHS is not age discriminatory obviously some of the information that you supply will mean that it is obvious what age range you fall into. If you are unsuccessful with your application and feel that you have been discriminated against contact the Trust's Human Resources department.
Do not apply for jobs that have qualifications listed for the job as essential, if you do not have them. This will usually be a waste of time. Make sure that you read the job specification and requirements and see if you would be a suitable candidate.
If the job advert says contact Mr Smith, for example, for more information or a site visit, then do so. This may help you acquire information for your interview and is generally well favoured.
Research the job that you are applying for. Most interviewers like to know that you have researched a little about the department and the job.
Things to bear in mind
- It can take quite some time, if you are offered a post, until you commence work. This is often down to stringent checks.
- You will begin with a holiday entitlement of:-
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On appointment 27 days + bank holidays
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After 5 years service 29 days + bank holidays
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After 10 years service 33 days + bank holidays
- There are nine pay scales in all.
- You may be expected to work Bank Holidays, possibly on a rota basis. This depends on your work. Weekend and Bank Holiday work is paid at a higher rate usually, but not always
- Salaries are paid calendar monthly.
- You can join Unison if you want to.
- Special rates are available if you want to join BHSF health scheme.
- You may be entitled to a housing/mortgage subsidy if you are an essential worker.
- Staff discounts are usually available at trust's restaurants and canteens.
- A full-time basic week is 371/2 hours.
- You maybe provided with a uniform. This may mean that you can claim a slight increase in your personal tax allowance for laundering costs.
- There is a strict uniform policy whether you have a uniform or not.
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Just a few of the clerical jobs available
The Future of the NHS
Is the NHS workable in the 21st Century? PAYSCALES
The NHS underwent radical reforms with the Agenda For Change a couple of years ago. Of course not everything lived up to expectations. However the new pay scales guaranteed that the lowest paid workers received a pay increase. Some jobs were re-banded and all staff were included in this exercise, except for Doctors. Each trust had some control locally and therefore jobs in different parts of the country may be banded a little differently.
These days the funding of the NHS has become a little more complex and PCTs, Primary Care Trusts, have a hold on the purse strings also. Usually if you choose to work as, say a receptionist at a PCT clinic, the salary scale will be the same as for any NHS job. However some GP, General Practitioner, surgeries will pay their staff more haphazardly.
The lowest Band is a scale 2. Most clerical work attracts between a band 2 and 4 depending on the level of skill needed and if there is any supervision involved. Administration jobs with a higher banding tend to be managers or those that have some budget controls.
In April cost of living increases are usually paid and the salaries below reflect the changes made for 2009. Some years these are not actually paid until much later in the year, after negotiation, but they are back dated.
Band 2:- £13,233 - £16,333
Band 3:- £15,190-£18,157
Band 4:- £17,732-£21,318
These are all pro-rota and you may find that they attract a higher salary in, for example, London.
Since the Agenda for Change every employee is supposed to have an annual PDR. personal development review, and for certain gateways along the pay scales, this determines if you receive your pay rise or not. These PDRs still have a long way to go.
It usually takes about 5 years to reach the top of a pay scale. However if you change job, to one that is in a higher band, you must receive some sort of pay rise. This means that you will probably not start at the bottom of the pay scale for that band.
Many NHS trusts are aiming for Trust Foundation staus and to achieve this they are splitting their departmental structure differently. With business units being formed there is still some confusion. However, for most ordinary employees this will have no day to day effect. |
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Zone ManagerHelium member since Jan 26, 07 Company: N.H.S Title: Hospital clerk. |
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