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!