Sitting around in the weak sun outside the closed theatre yesterday, I looked at H.I. and and wondered how long this is going to go on for. She said that at least I had a good reason to get out of town in going to the workshop. I said that at least she could absorb herself in her painting, then she responded by suggesting that I could absorb myself in my work.
A: I hardly have any work right now, and B: I cannot remember the last time I became absorbed by it other than going to bed with what seems an insurmountable problem attached to a job which wakes me up at around 4.00am. Anyway, it is not a competition. I have learned to despise chirpy people who say, "I cannot believe I am paid to do this!" (joke).
G.E. had just got off another 15 hour shift at her hospital the other day, when she bumped into a friend who nurses in the ICU ward, trying to do her best for Covid patients who are all lying in a coma and their own faeces and urine. Apparently it takes about 6 people to lift and turn someone who is rigged up to a ventilator, and there are so many patients in dire need of the basics that some things just have to be put off until a quieter period. The trouble is that there never is a quieter period.
G.E. listened to her exhausted friend telling her what is really going on, then went to a shop to buy something for supper. In the shop was a hippy woman explaining to anyone who would listen that the whole Covid thing is a myth put out by the government for reasons only known to the Cabal. G.E. had to leave the shop without saying a word for fear of physically attacking the stupid hippy woman. Personally, I don't think that anyone can actually be that stupid, and I blame the conspiracy theorists on the widespread deterioration of mental health, ironically caused by the prolonged lockdown.
G.E.'s mother bumped into a well-known film director friend in Bath yesterday, and he told her that they have been trying to film inside of Covid ICU wards for a long time now, purely to show the conspiracists the ghastly truth, but the government won't allow it. Presumably they don't want to cause a panic, but so long as people continue to ignore the lockdown rules - which I witness every day in the street - I think it would be well worth it. The film director also said that it was madness to ease them for Christmas, and that has lead to the avoidable deaths of thousands more. I agree with him.
Yesterday a government White Paper was leaked to the press. It proposes that the government 'take back control' of the NHS. Apparently the new legislation will change the procurement procedure by centralising the buying of medicines and equipment and taking away some of the autonomy of the NHS managers who were given greater powers by David Cameron in an attempt to save money - or at least make every hospital and General Practice self-accountable on the allotted budget, as if they were running a business.
This could be a good thing, but I just don't trust this government. It is not in their political DNA to curb the greed of global pharmaceutical companies or not favour Party doners over and above not-for-profit ones.
Maybe their success in the vaccine roll-out has taught them a valuable lesson in efficiency. The first thing they could do when this is all over is spend a little more on nurses wages. G.E. gets the same money for a 15 hour shift as she would get for an 8 hour one, not that she ever gets them.
I wouldn't allow NHS managers anywhere near a budget or ordering but then again nor in the main would I allow a government although the vaccine orders have been good. I think the NHS should employ only managers who have worked in running a supermarket first, prove they know what stock control and logistics are and then they can be let loose in hospitals. My neighbour whose daughter is a bank nurse said they employ teams of 7 to turn patients here. His daughter is doing that all the time. She got laid off when they were quiet in the Summer but is now back on duty.
ReplyDeleteThat idea is too sensible for any government. I think they got the army involved in the logistics though. They know what they are doing.
DeleteIncidentally bank nurses are probably currently earning more than regular nurses due to high demand.
DeleteWhat are bank nurses?
DeleteI have an acquaintance who is a bank nurse and she is paid a very healthy sum on a daily rate. She prefers this kind of work to full time nursing because she makes a lot more money and because she can pick and choose. The shortage of NHS nurses and the loss of EU staff has made her very much in demand.
DeleteI forgot to add that "bank" nurses have nothing to do with banking or money (apart from how much they make) but are a pool of nurses that can be called in to cover for shortfalls in regular staff.
DeleteAh, I see Jean got there first.
DeleteThose Corona- deniers are so stupid - here they call themselves "Quer-Denker" ("lateral or unconventional thinkers" - "thinkers?!?"
ReplyDeleteGermany applauded the nurses and other very hard working people - but they give not much more money to them. Many nurses and doctors are still not jabbed with the vaccine - now there might be AstraZeneca which will protect them.
They give that in Germany only to people under 65 - that is not the punishment by EU, as some British friends suspect - Switzerland (definitely not EU) refuses to buy any because of the data base.
On TV now you see how the lots of vaccine come to Germany - they put it into storehouses guarded by Bundeswehr soldiers.
Now there is 6 months data on the vaccine. Next month there will be 7.
DeleteI wondered what happened with the natural body processes for intubated patients, now I know. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteA friend who fits specialist contact lenses in a hospital ophthalmic dept had the ordering of them taken away from her and taken over by an ordering dept that was obliged to shop around for the cheapest suppliers. They are all individually custom made and more often than not the lenses were ordered incorrectly or supplied incorrectly and had to be re-ordered over and over, causing huge delay and distress to patients and costing the hospital much more than if my friend had ordered them from the place that does the best job in the first place.
Bloody managers.
DeleteHow is that possible? You work for 15 hrs and you get only paid for 8 hrs? Day- and nightshift together I suppose. Surely there must be some conpensation for it.
ReplyDeleteThey are on a low salary and are morally obliged to work any hours asked of them. You cannot leave a sick baby when your shift officially ends.
DeleteI agree that nurses should be paid much more. I also question the length of their shifts in the medical community. How can someone be on their best game after working that length of time, especially night shifts? I did not know that about how many people it takes to move patients. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteSee the comment above.
DeleteMany many years ago I worked with a woman who said that her and her husband were going to 'go into hospital management' roles (she was non specific about what and how) because her husband had identified that there 'was money to be made'. At the time, I thought she was silly to walk away from the stable job she was in and didn't quite understand exactly what she was walking in to......it seemed a little distasteful ....but now I think about that couple and wonder how they did. As for nurses (in fact all NHS and ancilliary staff) then the whole question of pay is scandalous. Of course they should get more...but I doubt they will.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that people go into hospital management with the same attitude that people have toward going into politics.
DeleteCertainly since Brexit some drugs are hard to get - my daughter in law who has very poor health is having a real struggle.
ReplyDeleteI think the same drug is manufactured in several different countries - I mean the components are split amongst different countries. Brexit is a disaster for most trade.
DeleteI have been told about the low wage problem for nurses in England. I know a woman from England who obtained her nursing/midwifery education and worked as a nurse/midwife in England. She was unhappy with the hours and salary. She signed on with a company in England that provided temporary nurses in the US. She started working in Florida and had her own apartment near a beach. She loved her job. Ultimately she met a British Navel officer in Florida. They married and ultimately made their home in Florida. My understanding is that there is a shortage of nurses in the US and this is a good career choice.
ReplyDeleteI think many Brits made their home in Florida. You could buy a beachside or lakeside one story house for what a small garage costs here. When I worked there, standard of living was high but wages low.
DeleteI've stared at the screen for long minutes, unable to formulate an answer. Your GE is being forged in a hot fire. The rest of us may be unhappy at how long it has been to "the end", or unhappy because we are deniers of the truth that is never going away, but for the workers who carry the world on their shoulders, this will leave such scars. These children will not inherit a world we wished we left them. I hope their bitter lessons are of some value.
ReplyDeleteI have just talked to her on the phone. She has her first paid break for about 8 months this week. She is neo-natal, so has a somewhat easier life than her colleague's. It's still stressful though.
DeleteAs someone who is totally appreciative of the nurses and doctors that grace our hospitals, of course they should get decent wages. And in a way it is up to us the ordinary public, to take on our government and demand it. As for the deniers, just listened to a little item on Glastonbury, land of the lost hippies, s*** deep in paranoid self deception.
ReplyDeleteGlastonbury is packed with fluff-heads. I spoke to one recently who believes that the con-trails from aircraft are spraying him with mind-altering chemicals. Why would they bother when he has already done that to himself?
DeleteI applied for a hospital post back in the 60's, it was to deal with the accounts and ordering of hospital supplies. As a woman I was told that I would be unable to cope with the job, however as the post had been unfilled for 8 months, I was given a months trial. Noone had dealt with the work for 8 months and 2 desks were covered with papaers. Within 3 weeks I was up to date.
ReplyDeleteI had to visit all departments and decide what needed ordering and how much, the system was very basic,but I had it running smoothly. This was a couple of years before time and motion 'experts'(with no understanding of hospital procedures) appeared on the scene. They demanded to know such stupid things as 'how many splints would be needed next month?' gradually ordering was taken over by people who had no idea of what hospital reality was like.
It has been downhill since then.
How many experts would now be needed to do the work I did. I did the wages for the whole hospital,all the stock taking, decided on what was neede and did the ordering and paid all the accounts. It wasnt a huge hospital, but it was a decent size.
If you could predict how many people were going to break their legs, it would either be an icy winter or you would have won the lottery by now.
DeleteI did one year of an NHS Management Trainee Scheme and left because I couldn't stand it. Meeting after meeting where nothing was ever achieved except arguing over minor details and avoided the issues that should have been discussed, a bit like your film of the local council meeting the other day, enormous wastage of money day in and day out (and nobody cared) and general lack of ability to organise a piss up in a brewery. The only man who knew his job and how to do it, apart from the doctors and nurses, was the gardener who single-handedly kept the great hospital gardens looking immaculate. The NHS is badly run and it is not just about funding, it is gross incompetence of those in charge.
ReplyDeleteThen I hope this change of rules make things better. NHS managers have always been in the wrong job I think. If they don't choose supermarket-trained people as you suggested, then they should recruit from the inside.
DeleteP.s. I know it is not all about money, but that doesn't mean that the nurses should be paid a reasonable amount for their hours. G.E. has to pay (out of her own wages) for insurance against being sued by families for any mishap with the children she cares for. She also has to pay for the exams needed to improve her skills as a nurse. She also has to pay just to be on the State Register.
DeleteHer flat in London costs more than she earns, so she has to share.
DeleteYes I agree.
DeleteLook at per diem nurses US (salary plus expenses). There are some interesting opportunities.
DeleteYours is private. Ours is nationally owned.
DeleteI think the government must be flabbergasted by the polls that tell them that despite the thousands of deaths they're responsible for, a substantial number of people still intend to vote for them. Their nhs idea is a carrot held out to floating voters who'd like to believe that the government cares.
ReplyDeleteThere is no alternative it seems. Labour is almost as weak as the Lib Dems thanks to Corbyn, and Kier Starmer is turning out to be pretty useless. Also nobody wants to change captains during the Covid storm, except maybe the Scots.
DeleteAs you know I’ve worked on intensive care and on a ward.
ReplyDeleteLong shifts are tough but nurses prefer to work them rather than having to face a daily 7.5 hour shift , shifts that often mean you are working 10 days in a row.
Add to the mix the added and unexpected need to wear PPE for long periods which nurses never factored into work....I feel nurses that have to do this SHOULD have. PPE payment extra to their wages