NHS admin staff keep services running - but we're being hit by cuts

NHS admin staff keep services running - but we're being hit by cuts Computers take 20 minutes to boot up and we run stationery orders by executive level staff; things are getting worse

Secretaries, waiting list and medical records clerks, clinical audit facilitators, business analysts and IT technicians and other support staff pull together to keep essential lifesaving NHS services running smoothly. To a staff nurse, the help of a ward clerk to retrieve a patient’s medical history can be just as crucial as that of a senior consultant. Data quality officers ensuring patients are properly admitted and discharged on computer systems can have an immeasurable impact on the management of bed capacity.

Yet those of us in NHS support services work in less-than-ideal circumstances. I work in an office that is a converted ward. Save for wheeling out most of the medical equipment, it remains an abandoned clinical area. I’m always wary when manoeuvring around our cramped kitchenette – imagine the embarrassment of accidentally leaning on one of the emergency call buttons and having the rapid response CPR team come crashing in. Continue reading... The Guardian