UK National Health Service Reviews

Pros

Because its an organisation accountable to the government, every effort is made for all organisations to have the same benefits including Annual leave and family friendly policies. Being such a large organisation, there is always room to develop and progress in your career, although you may be the one who has to push for it.

Cons

Promotion opportunities are there, although it may take you a while for you to progress in your career at the speed you want. In some cases there are gaps in "next step" positions, meaning you either have to make a really big leap to the next stage on the ladder and struggle for a while, or leave to get the right expereince elsewhere. Management communication is mostly poor as new managers are not given the support and skill develeopment they may need to learn how to run a team. Generally people feel they are overworked and underpaid - because its government run, that is generally true.

Advice to Senior Management

They need to invest and provide proper structured development programmes to new managers BEFORE they start their new role and get sucked into the manic day to day working of the NHS. Time needs to be given to people,to adjust into new roles, and they need better guidance and induction into the job, making clear expectations of them, and what they should expect in return, as well as regular constructive feeedback. They need to hire more people to get the unrealistic demands of work being set unpon senior management completed. That does not mean more managers.. just more workers to delegate to.

Pros

The good relationship that I have with the clinical staff that I work with !

Cons

Pay the non clinical workers a living wage, and stop the privtisation of services

Advice to Senior Management

Start to treat your staff with the respect that they deserve.

Pros

If you are satisfied to do a poor job and have absolutely no ambition, then the total absence of any feedback or link between performance and pay means that your pay and carrer will progress at exactly the same rate as the most commitited and exceptional performer.
Also, if you like to have a considerable time "off-sick" then you can without fear of reprisal.

Cons

If you are results focused and expect recognition and reward for your commitment then you will be bitterly disappointed. Salaries in non clinical positions are about 40% below the market rate.

Advice to Senior Management

Introduce training and career advice for all employees not just clinical staff, women or those from Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
Introduce frequent appraisals for all staff with specific, measurable, realistic, achiveable and time based objectives and financially reward empoloyees for acheiving them - an atta boy is nice, but it doesn't pay the mortgage.
Stop wasting money by paying under achievers the same as talented committed staff.

Pros

Commitment to a socially valuable enterprise.
Opportunities to seek job moves around the country.

Cons

Instability due to frequent, politically-inspired, reorganisations disrupts progress.
Restrictions due to frequent budget cut-backs, recruitment freezes etc

Advice to Senior Management

Resist structural reorganisation.

Pros

I love working here because it's the best pay that I've ever know. It combines my two loves, computers and people. Working here gives me great satisfaction, knowing that I'm helping people everyday and that I could be saving someones life, by making sure that our PC's are up and running correctly. We are in a very close-knit team of about 9 people and I love it. Everyone gets along and is friendly and it is just a great place to be. Im proud to say that I work for the NHS, it's better than saying that I work at McDonalds or somewhere like that. That had to be the most embarrassing point of my life!!! But it's absolutely wicked working here. I would recommend it any day.

Cons

I suppose the only thing about this place that I don't like is I don't really get any feedback about how I'm doing. I asked the other day as I wanted to know. My manager said to me that we only really tell you how you are doing when you are doing something wrong. If you are doing well, then we won't say anything to you. I don't think that's fair, and it's not motivational really.

Advice to Senior Management

Tell us how we are doing. Just that really. Oh and more perks for putting up with stressy people would be good. Although the £17k p/a is a perk in itself really.