Cycling UK Forum

Cunobelin wrote:

pete75 wrote:

Thornyone wrote:“...the same job...”. It would depend entirely upon which grade in the job you were employed at. The vast majority of retired NHS workers, whether ex nuclear med or whatever, wouldn’t be in danger of paying 40% tax on their pensions.

He was a consultant radiologist. I suspect that after 22 years Cunobelin will also be a consultant. Maybe ancillary workers won't be getting big pensions but almost all medical staff be they hospital based or a GP will get bigish pensions.

I am not a Consultant ... and neither my present wage, nor pension will attract 40% tax

pete75 wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:

pete75 wrote:
He was a consultant radiologist. I suspect that after 22 years Cunobelin will also be a consultant. Maybe ancillary workers won't be getting big pensions but almost all medical staff be they hospital based or a GP will get bigish pensions.

I am not a Consultant ... and neither my present wage, nor pension will attract 40% tax

Not a Consultant - after 22 years in radiology??

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Two trips to radiography.

1) Lumps down there.............definitely the radiographer wish they did not have to do that late in evening to the opposite sex.............hold that out the way like that...blah blah..................I was more angry than embarrassed..............
Its obvious that they did not want to be there by their attitude.............their sidekick was more helpful in my attempt to clean up before pulling up my pants

2) Could not stand or walk without crutches.........I dropped my coat on floor.........no where to put coat..............the operator just walked off to leave me struggling to bend down......................

Not my memory of trips to hospital 20 - 35 years ago.

Cunobelin wrote:

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Two trips to radiography.

1) Lumps down there.............definitely the radiographer wish they did not have to do that late in evening to the opposite sex.............hold that out the way like that...blah blah..................I was more angry than embarrassed..............
Its obvious that they did not want to be there by their attitude.............their sidekick was more helpful in my attempt to clean up before pulling up my pants

2) Could not stand or walk without crutches.........I dropped my coat on floor.........no where to put coat..............the operator just walked off to leave me struggling to bend down......................

Not my memory of trips to hospital 20 - 35 years ago.

I have glasses and a greying beard. I am however not responsible for Harold Shipman either

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:I was not directing comments at all radiographers, just how things, how bad it seems today in the nhs.
Don't even start me on cleaners in the nhs!

Sign of the times, though I am not sure if its poor management, poor attitudes / wrong person wrong job or how we are today.

[XAP]Bob wrote:

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:I was not directing comments at all radiographers, just how things, how bad it seems today in the nhs.
Don't even start me on cleaners in the nhs!

Sign of the times, though I am not sure if its poor management, poor attitudes / wrong person wrong job or how we are today.

It's do to with the fact that they aren't treated like people any more. They are treated as resources to be allocated.

Talking to one of the cleaning staff when I was in hospital for a while earlier this year she wasn't "allowed" any more time off sick this year...
They are dehumanised by management, which has generally been outsourced...

Cunobelin wrote:

pete75 wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:
I am not a Consultant ... and neither my present wage, nor pension will attract 40% tax

Not a Consultant - after 22 years in radiology??

I prefer to work......

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:

[XAP]Bob wrote:

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:I was not directing comments at all radiographers, just how things, how bad it seems today in the nhs.
Don't even start me on cleaners in the nhs!

Sign of the times, though I am not sure if its poor management, poor attitudes / wrong person wrong job or how we are today.

It's do to with the fact that they aren't treated like people any more. They are treated as resources to be allocated.

Talking to one of the cleaning staff when I was in hospital for a while earlier this year she wasn't "allowed" any more time off sick this year...
They are dehumanised by management, which has generally been outsourced...

That's one argument, but I cant agree, just because you are treated badly in your job is no excuse for passing on the misery.
I can see the logic in it but not all workers will succumb to bad standards.
NHS, oh it needs sorting, but part of the problem is that like councils there is much room for improvement in efficiency, material and time.
Computer interface between GP and Hospitals.
Sourcing better prices for material, food as well as medical, (several decades ago the NHS was criticised for paying more for cornflakes than local Tesco sells to its customers....................not sure that still goes on today but it would not surprise me.
The list goes on and as we know politics just muddies the water.

Vorpal wrote:I don't love my job. I'm not currently working in any of the fields I want to work in, nor the ones I am educated to work in. I am working in a related field, Quality. It's one that I am knowledgeable about. I was transferred a couple of years ago in a reorganisation. If I'm honest, it's occasionally interesting, occasionally frustrating, and mostly boring. I'm looking for a job, but my Norwegian isn't good enough to get one outside my network, and there is lots of competition for jobs in the companies that use English as their business language.

If I could find a way to not work, or work hours of my choosing, I would be content to do so. I'm not really interested in starting a business. It's too much work. And I've been a manager, and prefer to be an engineer, just because I hate office/company politics.

So, I'm kind of stuck with what I've got for the time being. I keep trying, though, and eventually I'll get a break, or my Norwegian will pass the threshold that potential employers think is competitive, or at least good enough that my other skills and expertise make up for it.

Cyril Haearn wrote:May you stay in Norway for ever, what residency status do you have?
What if Norway joins the EU? Or leaves EFTA?
What are you doing to improve your Norwegian?

Vorpal wrote:

Cyril Haearn wrote:May you stay in Norway for ever, what residency status do you have?
What if Norway joins the EU? Or leaves EFTA?
What are you doing to improve your Norwegian?

I don't know about forever, but I like it here, and probably won't leave at least until the kids are done with university (they are 9 & 11, now)
I am a permanent resident here. I got permanent residency last year.
I read in Norwegian, use it everyday, as much as possible. Sometimes I use Duolingo. I feel a bit stuck at my current level. I think I need to take lessons or a course. I manage fine with day to day things, shopping, schools, etc., but I can struggle with complex conversations. The main problem is that I don't get many opportunities to practice at complex conversations. I can do some stuff in Norwegian at work, and sometimes I have to. In the workshop, I work with some folks who don't speak English very well. But that only seems to improve specific (and not otherwise very helpful) vocabulary.

Thornyone wrote:I am now retired but I couldn’t wait to retire, and in fact I decided to finish a little ahead of time, so that money (shortage thereof) is now definitely an ongoing issue. But it was certainly a case of leaving or suffering mentally. I worked in the NHS. At one time I loved the job and actually looked forward to going to work, and I always got on really well with patients and the vast majority of my work colleagues. However, constant changes (for the worst) to working practices of the “tick box culture” kind (i.e. filling in a hundred tick boxes to say one has treated correctly rather than having time to concentrate on doing so), ever increasing workload to the point of feeling you were pushing patients along a production line, and latterly, ever-increasing technological change at a time of life when such things are harder to deal with, made it pretty-much intolerable. I know so many people who have felt the same as they approach retirement. The thought of having to carry on ‘til 68 or older in anything other than a “tea-boy” role seems absurd.

Years ago I spent a period of time unemployed, and it was awful. It wasn’t that I couldn’t find a thousand things to occupy my time, rather the financial worries and the stigma, but above all, the not knowing whether one would be in this state for a month, ten years or permanently. And one of the best times I’ve known was the month or so of free time I had once I found work but before it started, when I could then enjoy the free time.