Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Polly's Got A New Phone...

In the rush to complete Christmas preparations I've not posted for ages, have I?

The last time I was here I related the slightly iffy tale of redeployment as experienced in the HSE. Thankfully I survived, as did everybody else!

Sadly though this alarming trend is pretty much here to stay. Over the festive season the department has been remarkably quiet, leading to an unprecidented number of staff being loaned out around 'the house'.

One of the biggest problems caused by this is the fact that ultimately it leaves our department short staffed. It's all well and good adopting the attitude that we're not busy right now, the problem is that when we did get busy the staff where not available.

Life in our department can accurately be compared with the london transport system. There's nothing for ages and then it all comes at once! Literally...

We've always worked under a different set of rules in the Theatre Department. Unlike staff on the wards, we aren't guaranteed of coffee or lunch breaks. When we are lucky enough to get them they are afforded at irregular intervals, for instance it's quite normal for me to take my lunch at 4pm. In another two hours I clock off.

The irony of this is that the ward staff are entitled to an hours lunch, at regular times, over two sittings. This of course now leads to further redeployments in order to provide nursing cover at these times.

Admittedly it isn't exactly brain surgery, but nevertheless it is surgery. One of our most frequent emergencies is caesarian section, which as we all know is a matter of life and death.

It strikes me that the management think theatre nurses sit around drinking coffee all day. The fact that we seldom stray willingly from the department probably doesn't help with this. Somehow senior management always seem to drop in at those times we do get chance to grab a cuppa!

So that's my gripe for today over and done with. I sincerely hope that we will see an improvement in the New Year, not least because we will be losing two members of staff who will not be replaced. I shall be heading back there tomorrow, Lord only knows what I'll be walking into...

Oh yes, the title of this post is referring to the new smart phone I got before Christas and won't have the time to play with during my breaks!!! By the way, I wrote this post on it, cos I just downloaded the Blogger application. Heaven only knows what this month's bill will be.

Happy New Year everybody and thanks for dropping in...

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