Frustrated man

Going back to my previous entry about my colleagues, I am going to carry on with the subject of Ian the Ward Clerk.

He is 36 years old man, who worked in the hospital all of his working life. He started in Medical Records and then moved on to be a ward clerk (don’t worry if you don’t know what these jobs are – they are admin positions). The reason he came to work in the hospital was the fact that his mother worked there, too. She is now a specialist nurse with serious alcohol problem (but this is a story for some other time).

Getting back to Ian; when I first met him, I remember the unbelievable amount of frustration emanating from him. He said that the job he does pays his bills but he hates it with all his heart. “Surely none of us ever dreamt of becoming a ward clerk when we were little” was one of his favourite sayings. I must say I liked it first but it became quite boring with time. He often gets mood swings that are quite unpredictable and you never know if he’s going to burst into one of his spiked with hate and anger speeches about “some people in here” not respecting admin staff and wanting “everything to be done for them”. On the other hand he can always have a monologue about life in general, good and bad vibes and football.

All the above is not too bad. There is always singing (for me it is more like a foxes calling at night). He sings tirelessly whatever he does. Watching any new starters and patients when they hear his singing for the first time is priceless!

And now comes the best of all; Ian likes to indulge himself in smoking cannabis during working hours. He doesn’t even go outside of the hospital to do that. Stationery cupboard seems to be perfect place for him to feed his little habit.

Now all his mood swings, extreme joy and anger make sense. I still think this is a proper piss taking. He is watched by management (because of his behaviour and quality of work) but he still manages to get away with things like that. What’s more; he is on higher pay band than all the rest of the ward clerks on other wards who actually work hard and behave normally.

So, what do I need to do to get the same privileges as Ian? Get my mum to become a specialist nurse. Long live NHS! 

My colleagues

People sometimes say that NHS staff consist of comfortably sitting on their asses weirdows. I think I have to agree (even it makes me one of them). I have worked in many different places during my life, but nowhere have I met so many sad and lonely people as in the hospitals where I worked.

There are many types, of course. There are groups of aged grumpy women scaring patients and any newbies away. There are packs of up their own asses consultants and rude nurses. There are dirty, scruffy single guys dreaming their lives away in the forgotten cellars (bowels of the hospital). I could go on. But it’s not my aim to categorise all the employees. Or is it?

Anyway, watching all this makes me sad and scares me at the same time. Will I ever be like them? Or… am I already one of them? Well, yes I get grumpy a lot. I’m passed my twenties. I have no prospect of getting a job somewhere else. Well, to be honest, I’m comfortable in my cosy job. As long as I can do job in the quickest amount of time, I can then spend the rest of my working hours feeding my hobbies and interests. And, to the certain extend my job is pretty secure. So, why should I leave?

I shouldn’t, but there are so many people that I wish would leave. I can start with Ian (36 year old ward clerk), who smokes cannabis in the stationery cupboard. He then goes around wailing(he thinks he is singing) and complaining how much he hates his job.