r/nhsstaff

Context: I work in healthcare, I work in an admin support role for the management team of the department.

My workplace has some policies around using digital and AI tools already, but I'm concerned they aren't thorough enough at the moment and don't encompass all of the risks and real-world uses of the tools.

Last week the head of department asked me to set up a meeting with various people in the department to discuss AI and digital tools. I was curious so asked him about it. He said he wants to try and implement more ai and digital tools around the department to hopefully streamline things.

My concerns:

1. I'm generally very wary of the increasing use of ai, especially generative stuff. I'm concerned about the environmental impacts, but also the fact that it can still be very flawed. Furthermore I fear the people who will be using it don't fully understand the risks and consequences of using it. I think if people received proper training and understood everything in depth, I'd be more comfortable with these things being used on a wider scale.

2. my role is admin support. There are a lot of us in the department (and wider workforce). I'm concerned about my (and colleagues) futures if everyone starts outsourcing their admin tasks to ai, where does that leave us?

3. possibly my most important concern is that we're talking about using ai in healthcare. At the moment it might just be to minute meetings, but it could go in the direction of summarising medical records, medical appointments, reporting on diagnostic tests. This scares me because ai is not perfect and can make mistakes. And I don't like the idea of leaving important healthcare related tasks up to ai. I know that there should still be human supervision on these tasks, at least that's what policy states. But realistically, I fear lots of people (especially the overworked & understaffed people) might not supervise it, might just let it take over the task entirely. Which leaves the door open for drastic mistakes.

In an ideal world, everyone would receive adequate training in ai use, and would understand how to use it carefully and in an informed way. But I fear that won't actually happen, and I'm scared about the consequences.

Anyone have any previous experiences of ai tools being implemented at work or in healthcare?

Any thoughts, concerns, or plus sides I haven't considered?

I am not looking for exact interview questions, but I would really appreciate advice from anyone who has interviewed for NHS analyst, workforce planning, HR analytics, business intelligence, or Band 6 corporate roles.

Specifically:

1. What competency areas are most likely to come up for this type of role?
2. Are NHS Band 6 interviews usually more values-based, technical, or scenario-based?
3. Any common mistakes to avoid in NHS competency interviews?

Anyone who has taken VR had issue with NHSE using wrong tax code. I’ve been taxed under OT noncum which means I have paid substantially more tax than what I was expecting and they have not taken into consideration my personal allowance. Is it something payroll can help with or do I need to sort out myself with hmrc?

My line manager just asked if I could move a week of leave I booked six months ago because three people have suddenly gone on long term sick. It is for my sister's wedding so I absolutely cannot change it. Can they legally order me to work if the ward is dangerously short?

Dear all,

I left the NHS at the end of April; at that time, I had 42 hours AL left unused. During the notice period, my group manager, Band 8b, asked whether I wanted to take the leave. I said I would like to work until the end of April instead of using it. I did not confirm whether this can be paid after leaving, just assume that. This is a mistake.

After leaving without receiving any payment for annual leave, I asked the group, and the manager refused to pay it as follows,

"Apologies  I should have clarified this earlier as I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding. xxx was always free to take his outstanding annual leave if he wanted to, which is why it wasn't added to his leavers form on ESR. The policy is that outstanding leave is only paid in lieu if the staff member has asked to take leave and had this request turned down due to the needs of the service, which did not happen in this case. I'm sorry if he expected this to be paid to him but this is not something that I offered to him either verbally or in writing so he shouldn't have been relying on it. 

This might seem like a hard line but I do have a responsibility to follow xxx policies to make sure we are using our funding strictly for it's intended purpose, so I think I have to still say no on this one."

The relevant policy is "

9. Entitlements on Joining and Leaving 

• The Trust will make every effort to meet the needs of new employees in respect of commitments to holidays made prior to the commencement of employment. Managers should ask new members of staff whether they have any booked leave before the employee’s start date so they can plan in advance how to accommodate it. 
• All new employees will be entitled to annual leave plus Bank Holidays in the year of joining the Trust, on a pro-rata basis. On appointment, the Bank Holiday’s hours entitlement will be based on the number of Bank Holidays remaining in the current leave year. All employees terminating their contract before the end of the leave year will be entitled to accrued annual leave and Bank Holidays up to their leave date on a pro-rata basis. 
• An Annual Leave Calculator is available on the Trust Intranet to help with the calculation of annual leave and Bank Holidays entitlements for employees joining or leaving the Trust. Upon notice of termination of employment with the Trust, any outstanding annual leave and Bank Holiday entitlements should be taken during the employee’s period of notice. 
• Where in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the employee’s designated manager, the needs of the service necessitate that requests to take paid leave during an employee’s period of notice are not approved, the employee shall receive payment in lieu for any leave outstanding. Where, following termination of employment, the amount of annual leave taken during an employee’s final leave year exceeds the amount of entitlement accrued at the date of the termination of their employment with the Trust, the Trust shall recover from the employee pay equivalent to the number of days/hours the employee has exceeded their entitlement by. Where possible this will be collected from the employee’s final salary. When employees change their contracted hours, this will result in a re-calculation of their annual leave entitlement.  "

Just in case, is it true that I can not take the money? Seems to me like it's a grey area, as I didn't apply for leave, and they have no chance to reject the leave and agree to pay me for the work.

Thank you very much for the help.

Best wishes,

Why do the lifts in nearly all NHS hopsitals and buildings seem to break down ALL the time?

Are they crap, are they badly maintained, is it overuse? Even the lifts that aren't used as much seem to breakdown 🙃.

TL;DR:
I worked as an NHS Healthcare Assistant while struggling with undiagnosed endometriosis, spent years on waiting lists, paid privately for surgery that finally confirmed the condition, then was dismissed for sickness absence shortly afterwards. I’m appealing because I believe my attendance was judged before treatment and recovery had been fully assessed. My appeal failed.

For four years, I worked as a Healthcare Assistant on a spinal ward while experiencing ongoing symptoms that were later found to be caused by endometriosis. I had been referred to NHS gynaecology services in 2022, but experienced long waiting periods and remained without a confirmed diagnosis for several years. During this time, I had repeated episodes of pain and sickness absence while trying to continue working, the longest of which lasting 6 months. I even offered to take unpaid leave and annual leave instead of sickness but the trust declined.

In August 2025, I sought private medical care due to ongoing symptoms. A sickness hearing was called on 20 November 2025 and a week later I underwent surgery, which confirmed significant endometriosis and allowed treatment to be carried out. I personally funded the surgery at a cost of approximately £5,000. I was advised that although initial recovery would take around 6–8 weeks, internal healing could take between 3–6 months.

Despite this, I later attended a Stage 3 sickness hearing and was dismissed from my role on the grounds of ill health due to ongoing sickness absence. I appealed the decision, arguing that the process had progressed before my condition had been fully diagnosed and treated, and before a sufficient recovery period had passed. I also argued that I had taken significant steps to improve my health, including losing 40kg, engaging with treatment, and actively managing my condition.

Can someone explain to me what skills and competencies are HR managers and HR directors meant to have?

Seems to me that to be a HR professional you just need a CIPD certificate and the course is just common sense mixed in with buzz words like “EDI”.

We have a HR director whose claim to fame is having done all sorts of “inclusion” programmes. What on earth does that mean which justifies a 100k salary??

Mainly the roles of active moving staff, what shoes are you wearing at the moment? Ive started to get really bad pains in the arch area and im wearing adidas running shoes. I think the bad throbbing pain which lasts a second or two and then comes back later may be plantar fasciitis. I think my shoe is arched in the sole and i may look into something like HOKA or On Cloud buy i dont want to spend almost 200 quid on garbage... Has anyone tried these brands? People say its like walking on clouds

... to write to the Health & Social Care Committee after watching https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/c23a09c5-64de-4578-b115-c7ce20770fa6

Hello.

I have a band 2 assistance patient administrator interview tomrrow and I am very nervous I would like to know whether the Band 2 interview questions will be the same as a Band 3 ? ie how much details I need to give? as my previous feedback for a band 3 role said that my answer was good but can trim down unrelated information. Any information much appreciated.

If most NHS jobs are based on a scoring system, and many of the roles have already been informally allocated to internal staff, is there really any point in applying for Band 2 positions? What’s the point of even attending an interview if they already seem to have someone else in mind?

Early 20’s recently got job as receptionist at my surgery finding it way more challenging than expected I have plenty of customer support and service experience but finding it way more challenging than I had thought navigating emis and triaging pts, tasking etc etc. I’ve been there about 4 full days and realise you never really learn it all. The surgery is supportive and so friendly but can’t help but feel like I’m not any use. When given the opportunity I can either get through pts fast or will have a run or 8/9 when asking for help. Can it really take months to be self sufficient and trusted or are they just being nice.

My trust has recently offered out open dialogue therapy to train up in. has anyone been trained in this and already working in the service ? If so what are your thoughts and feeling for both practitioner and patient for curiosity?

At what point when offered a new job in the nhs will your current employer be notified? I understand references will be requested but if these are complete by the line manager directly, at what point is there an ESR/transfer check if at all?