NHS reviews

The point of the trainee is you're meant to be sub-numerate to the work force you're assisting in various trusts around the country. Some people have no work, my experience was bum in seat for THREE vacant posts at the same time. I hated the job, the trust and the work I was doing. No matter how much I complained I was told to see it through as contracts and bids with the trust were too complicated to undo. I don't get paid enough to be this stressed or take this amount of risk. Literally half the salary of an 8a. The working relationships in the trust I work in are also atrocious. Never have I been spoken to the way in a professional work environment as I have here. The course material you learn on the side is horrendous. It's outdated and lives in fantasy land. I hated pretty much every minute on this scheme and can't wait to leave the NHS. I'm 6 months in and actively searching for other employment.

- The graduate scheme organisation is sometimes poor - Biggest con is that placements vary a lot (too much). Some might be hosted by grad scheme alumni and offer lots of support, others might be a manager who doesn't understand the scheme and is looking for a "free resource" or thinks it's just a technical apprenticeship(!) - The graduate scheme has several specialisms (Analysis, Policy, HR, Finance, Informatics) as well as the general management stream. For the former streams, there are sometimes difficulties with the scheme education and the placements: e.g. the scheme education might assume you're in a hospital and you'll be required to do assignments talking about patient experience, team management - but if you're "back office" doing data analysis or HR policy this is difficult. - Some placement managers can be very hands-off. This can mean the placement gets boring, you're not learning, and you have to constantly push for more work and opportunities (advice to grad scheme office: try to weed these placement managers out!).