The PCT newsletter told me yesterday that a small number of individuals were unsuccessful in obtaining a tier 4 job, and that assistance is being given to those people in applying for positions. On one level I am glad that I am seen as an individual person, but on another it feels like a dismissive term to describe something quite irritating. I had a meeting with someone from the HR department this week who told me that on one hand I am displaced and can therefore apply for any post that comes up in the region which I think I am suitable for. On the other hand she warned me that I shouldn’t take too long about it, as a new job was about to be created in education and training, on a pay band lower than my present one. Whats more it is very likely this will be deemed suitable alternative employment for me. Over my dead body, was my immediate thought as I shot off to go and find any suitable job anywhere!

Agenda for change has been a very expensive experiment in giving those working in the NHS (who are not doctors) an amount of pay which adequately reflects the job that they do. This is because they have discovered many of us were underpaid in terms of the rules created, therefore there seems to be a slight mission going on. The organisation is seriously in debt, pay costs represent a huge proportion of outgoings, redundancy costs too much so lets just try and reduce the pay we give to some of the higher earners. This isn’t just about the ‘individuals’ who were unsuccessful in their first choice of job and who will now need to accept a job at a ‘lower level’ but it is actually about the successful ones too. These people are now beginning jobs that are twice the size of their previous ones, and most are doing those jobs for the same pay as they were already on.

I am a nurse, I didn’t become a nurse to get rich. I am now over 26 years into my career and have worked hard to get to this place. I don’t deserve to find myself devaluated any more than I would if I worked on a ward as the most junior nurse. Don’t forget that these things have a habit of finding their way down to the bottom level!

On a positive note, I might just catch them out at their own game. I am going to be helping to write the new job description, and already it is unlikely this new job will carry any less (and perhaps more) responsibilities than my original job. Lets just see what happens! Meantime, I am meeting my RCN rep to discuss all of this in the very near future!