IT and the NHS

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Just wondering if anyone in this forum has an IT role in the NHS.

Looking at a job near to me which is only 4 miles nearer than where I work now and the wage is pretty similar. I know the NHS are undergoing some major improvements in their infrastructure but as an employer Im just wondering what they are like to work for ?

Cheers

Zx

 

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I work within a hospital based in Devon and to be honest I find I do get a lot more exposure to hardware than I would within the private industry. As for general working if you do get a job within the NHS expect lots more red tape. Sometimes it seems to take an age to get certain changes made. PM if you want any more info.

 

Hi Zx,

I got my start at a GP surgery which is in a way in the NHS. It's a good institution to work for but it also depends surgery to surgery / hospital to hospital. Kilgore is correct you will get more exposure to some tech as they tend not to always contract out work like this unless 100% needed. At my time I lost the control of the email system (exchange) which gutted me as I was beginning to learn it. It moved to a national system so there are issues like this to deal with but you will have opportunities in other areas. If you want me to look over the advert or any more info let me know.

 

Hello, I currently work as an IT Engineer in an NHS Trust. I started out as a contractor(this is the best way to get into NHS IT) doing Sevicedesk support, mostly on the phone with users. I have worked my way up and six years later I am where I am. There are few things about working for NHS IT. All NHS services are now liable for tendering, meaning 'in house' services like IT can be tendered to an outside company to provide all IT support. This can be a private company or another NHS Trust with much better resources and can provide the service. I am not very familiar with all the corporate terminologies but to put it bluntly, an IT department within a Trust can be sold off to the best buyer(thus will endanger your job). My Trust had been looking at this two years ago, but decided an 'in house' IT is more cost effective.

In terms of technologies, it depends on what role you do, you will get exposed to technologies but it would be not as advance as you get on the private sector. For the start, the network infrastructure is just SLOW, well maybe this will vary from different parts of the country. Adapting to new technologies also is a slow process as various organisational requirements will need to be assessed before proceeding. Old software and applications are everywhere due to compatibility issues. You will get a lot of exposure to administering users if you are on a servicedesk role, some AD admins and a lot of desktop support. Mobile devices are also increasingly being supported so expect mobile phone(voice and smart) support, tablets like iPad and Android devices.
Engineers on the the NHS varies on each role, some are network, some work on server and others are engineer who do site visits. The third is me, but in our Trust I also do server support(limited), desktop and networks. This is the reason why I am an 'IT Engineer' as I have no specialist role as I do various duties.

Salary wise - its ok but not great. Well compared to private sector salary to what I do, I probably earn less than 10k to equivalent level engineer. You also have to work your way up into the pay grade scale where a salary of 21-25k means you start of at 21k on the first year, 23k on second and 25k on the third year.

All in all, I like it as the users that you speak to or meet onsite are professionals, very well educated and polite. You get some nasty ones but they cannot be as bad and your managers will protect you due to various policies in placed in the NHS Trust(well for my Trust). You can also work your way up and I find it to be more secure than in the private sector. But try to update your certs and do not sit comfortably as things can change very quickly. Just two years ago we lost 67% of our staff in our team. So beware.

 

I worked as a contractor for an NHS trust prior to this role (about 5 years ago now).
Having worked in Investment banking in the past it was interesting to see how things differ.
I spent 6 months doing work that in the end I had to walk away from because they just weren't interested in taking it on (funnily enough it would have allowed them to offer outsourcing for all the local surgeries of their hosted solutions).

I am not sure I would work in a Trust again, even central government wasn't that bad.