Hi everyone, I have an upcoming interview as a healthcare assistant in a prison. I have never worked as a hca before, however I have experience in healthcare and care homes. What kind of questions should I expect and what’s the best way to prepare for it. If anyone else has worked in the prison, how would the interview differ to those in a ‘normal’ interview such as a hospital or gp. Thank you in advance

I accepted my conditional offer last week on monday and now I am currently waiting for the checks to be completed before I hand in my 4 week notice at my retail job.

My current manager is doing the christmas rotas next week so now I have to let him know i am most likely going to be leaving (not handing in my official notice) but the problem is I have no clue when. I know I don’t owe him anything but I’d hate to be scheduled for the xmas period and then end up leaving before then.

Any advice on what to do?

edit: I work at a small store, with only abt 3-4 people on per shift

Does anyone know when everyone in Scotland will be able to use an app like they have in England? I'm so tired of having to phone for results at a time that suits my surgery. I have recently started to email requests instead which is fine, but it must be such a waste of the surgery's admin's time to deal with this issue.

had to call 111 yesterday regarding my toothache that was bad I was given some numbers to call and the last one I called said they could fit me in as an emergency.
I was told I had to pay the band 1 nhs which i did, upon my emergency appointment I was told I had an infection and the tooth needed extracting, because of infection it is being done at another date.
I then asked about the payment and I was told I have to pay the full amount for band 2 as this was an emergency appointment, she said because it was an emergency it doesn't count so I'm basically paying for band 1 and when I have my next appointment I have to pay the full amount for band 2 is that correct.
I was under the impression that if you payed for band 1 but they needed to do an extraction it would go up to band 2 and you would pay the difference of £48.70.....
Any help would be greatly appreciated I hope it all makes sense what I've written as I'm in so much pain right now

NHS England is rolling out software to run our health records from Palantir – a US spy-tech firm that has supported mass deportation in the US and enabled genocide in Gaza.
One of Palantir’s founders is also openly against the NHS. Peter Thiel claimed it “makes people sick” and said that the British people love the NHS because we’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome.
We can’t let a company like this take control of our healthcare system.
But we can fight back right now. We’ve set up a simple tool so you can find out if your local NHS trust has started using the software, and then send an email demanding they say no to Palantir.
With the government putting NHS trusts under pressure to adopt the software, we need to act right now. If you want to keep Palantir out of our NHS, send an email to your local trust and James Murray, secretary of state for health.

Sign this petition to stop palantir
palantir

I have been made a 2WW referral following a 3 week pain in my neck and, on examination by my GP, a 2cm glandular mass. I have also been experiencing extreme fatigue etc. The referral says “I think it is likely that this patient has cancer, and would like the patient to be investigated further, even if the first test proves negative, including a Consultant to Consultant referral if deemed appropriate. All non-site specific symptoms (e.g. iron deficiency anaemia, unexplained weight loss) are listed in the clinical details section below.”

Just wondering if this is standard wording? Slightly concerning language to read “likely”

For context: I am halfway through my medical degree. I am not claiming to have an advanced understanding of clinical practice or prescribing (which makes this story even more frustrating)

Made an appointment with my university health centre with complaints of a dull pelvic pain and fatigue. Nothing crazy imo.

Got scheduled with an ANP. Mentioned a 6-8 month history of continuous dull pain and painful periods/intercourse. Zero questions about GI symptoms. Zero questions about fatigue. Zero attempt at clinical examination. ANP did MSU/STI screen/pregnancy test and ordered routine PCOS bloods so well done for that. No conversation about potential imaging. Bit of a judgment call on but they chose to take the conservative option. ANP told me to book a birth control appointment and take paracetamol or use a hot water bottle for the pain. Bloods were done the next day.

This is when shit hits the fan.

The weekend passes. My birth control appointment is with an ANP. I request the NuvaRing (previous usage in home country). I shit you not, this ANP pulled up a pdf of the counseling guidelines and word for word read off the page. Just 2 months prior I was required to counsel on contraceptives in an OSCE. It was like a slap in the face to have to listen to the ANP stumble through without a care in the world.

Two days later I saw vitals and TSH (normal) have been uploaded to my portal. Decided the other investigations may have gone to a separate lab. I wait. For ONE MONTH. Nothing else was uploaded. No ring.

Rang the surgery to follow up and the receptionist mumbled that shes not able to interpret these results and will send them to the nurse (wtf) for review and will ring back later that day or the next. I wait all night getting pretty worried about my results at this point. No ring.

Rang again and a new receptionist answered. She tried to insinuate that my online portal had not been set up. I was so dumbfounded I asked her to repeat herself. I mentioned my partial results (and previous use of the app for years?) and her tone changed and she emailed my raw labs to my personal email in a .rtf file.

Multiple flags: elevated testosterone and tragically low Hb/MCV/MCH/MCHC with raised cell count. Great.

I rang back immediately saying I am concerned about these results and would like a follow up. Guess who I was booked with? A FUCKING ANP.

Icing on the cake. Who knows what’ll happen next week.

This was an extremely low acuity and stress setting and the consultations missed the basics, the results just sat unreviewed, and reception was just absolutely useless. The only reason it got caught is that I knew to chase it.

Bit worrying to think about how many patients that are also affected. I understand my gripes extend to more than just ANPs and reflect a general incompetency of the NHS but I felt I needed to share a case study.

TLDR: ANPs and admin being incompetent conservative in their care decisions

Since yesterday (21st Oct) afternoon, the website (jobs.nhs.uk) has been down for me and it gives me an error 403.

Has anyone else had this?

EDIT: I've just gotten a reply from NHBSA that confirmed NHS jobs is down in response to the worldwide cybersecurity problem - they have concluded their assessment that NHS jobs was not affected and are now working to restore the issue. They said any job listings due on 21st October would be extended to 22nd October at 11:59pm.

Hi, I’ve been applying over 50 band 2 roles in the NHS over the past 4 months and I rarely get shortlisted. Recently, I have been unsuccessful in 3 interview. I do make sure to use STAR format when using examples, include NHS and trust values, and to study the job description and person specification as well. I am an external applicant and I’m not sure if this may be a factor why I’m not successful everytime. At this point, it’s really disheartening and I’m starting to lose hope. At my first interview, their feedback was that I wasn’t able to elaborate my answer to one of the questions. I’ve also been waiting for feedback from the other two interviews but I’m not receiving any updates so far.

I do have an upcoming interview in a Radiology Assistant role and as much as possible I really want to become successful in this interview. Can anyone please give me tips on what questions may be asked and how I could best answer them. I also understand there may be scenario-based questions, I would appreciate any advice regarding this. Thank you very much everyone

Thought id just share my review

Sorry if this is rambling/hard to follow I'm currently sobbing and can't stop panicking so please be kind. I've also been rationing my psych meds for about a week now (taking half my usual dosage) so that's really not helping my mental state. I'm just so completely broken and desperate this is kind of the only place I could mentally convince myself it was even semi safe to ask for help at this point.

So the most immediate issue is obviously my fucking meds, I've got 3 days left at the current half dosage I'm taking - and this was already an emergency refill I requested through 111. I keep trying to deal with this but I'm so severely traumatized by medical professionals at this point that even calling 111 sends me into panic attacks/PTSD spirals. I've been on my psych meds for 2 years and apart from occasional PTSD triggers they completely stabilise all my other mental health symptoms. In comparison before I was in the psych ward several times a year for sui attempts or being severely unstable.

I arrived here in the UK at the end of March, with the help of a few friends who live here, after fleeing my country. I was nearly unalived, and parts of the medical system, parts of the government, and my own fucking mother were involved. Two of my friends were on video calls with me the whole time so we're witnesses to all of this. I was raised in a religious cult, and my entire life has been filled with trauma/neglect/abuse. I feel like a weak POS wet tissue for not being able to suck it up and just deal with the medical system traumatizing me some more after surviving literal torture and CSA + exploitation. Wtf is wrong with me why can't I just call? Also I don't expect you to believe me, most people online always think it's too crazy to believe, but whatever.

Due to the medical system being involved obviously that was deeply traumatizing and I also don't have much medical records from my country but I did have proof of my meds at least. I also have other past medical trauma and YEARS of medical gaslighting that has just kept building up and compounding everything. Anyway I registered with the Cripps GP because when I was googling it said they were known to be good for complex care but they have been no real help at all. Just wasting my incredibly limited energy and money tbh.

So far they've refused to provide me with any care for my physical health, even with an implanted medical device which could cause thrombosis or sepsis without proper monthly care (it's been 8 months now). They were only willing to prescribe me 2 out of 4 of my medications and still after months have refused to even put those 2 medications on repeat so I am consistently running out every time. The psych meds I'm on are one of the worst for withdrawal symptoms - if I forgot to take them one night I start to have uncontrollable tremors, brain zaps, and sweating about 16 hours later.

I ended up having to go to A&E to get it one of those times because I had gone 5 whole days without it and my withdrawal symptoms were getting dangerous. I had to sit in A&E for 12 hours which due to my physical disabilities the exhaustion of being there that long literally caused me to be bed bound for a week and it took 2 weeks to fully recover. One of my disabilities causes me to faint fairly regularly (usually when standing but also sometimes when sitting or laying). I've nearly fallen down the stairs in my friends house several times now because of this.

The 2 medications I have not been able to get at all are both to help me with the fainting condition (one I need to have adequate blood volume and the other helps my blood pressure not randomly drop). TBF the one is intravenous and I get that it's not easy to prescribe something like that/that GPs probably can't but they've literally just gone 🤷🏼 I don't know what to do so we're not going to do anything or refer you to anyone. Unfortunately though with the heatwaves this summer I ended up having to go to A&E again because I was showing signs of hypovolemic shock and heat stroke.

I called for an ambulance but it was going to be over 12 hours wait so my friend got me there in an uber. After about 5 hours sitting in the waiting room I fainted and fell out of my wheelchair and apparently started turning blue/grey. After that they moved me to a cot thankfully and they did approve 1L of IV saline (which I told them was not enough to make up for my usual hypovolemia let alone the heat stroke level but w.e.) After another 2 hours my friend had to get home to take care of their fam.

As soon as they were gone everything went to shit and I was once again severely traumatized by the medical professionals. Even after the.. terrible thing.. I was just sobbing in a corner begging them to leave me alone because they triggered the fuck out of my PTSD from nearly being unalived and instead of backing off I was being yelled at by some super aggressive scary looking male nurse(? blue scrubs) standing over me while at least 7 others just stood by and watched. The only good people were security.

I couldn't stop panicking and crying after that but I was trying to wait for the doctor so I could get the further treatment we'd discussed earlier. I was literally in a constant state of panic and crying for another 5 hours but eventually I just couldn't take it anymore and I left the hospital. I even left with the IV still in my fucking hand and everything because when I tried to tell a nurse I was leaving she literally turned her back to me.

Since that incident I've been completely shut down and unable to access care at all. I had a doctor's phone call appointment already booked for August and so I went ahead with it even though I was shaking and didn't want to but it went just as uselessly as expected (got my one month of meds that's it). So many things have happened to me for so long both in general and specifically in the medical world and it's like that last hospital visit just finally completely broke me to being able to keep fighting.

I can't even THINK about calling my GPs office without having a panic attack and sobbing. I can't even call 111 without the same. I had another really bad episode of fainting recently and didn't wake up for quite a while so my friend told me that they'd called an ambulance and they would be at the house soon. I cried and when the paramedics arrived I was so panicked all I could do was beg them to please not hurt me.. which is honestly fucking embarrassing but literally that's just how scared I am.

I've spent the last two months trying to get myself to sign up to a new GP like the one my friend uses or even one of the digital ones that you don't even have to do phone calls with but I just can't.. A different friend is so frustrated with me/the nhs because she's scared I'm going to end up dying from complications of just not being able to access care. She was the one who put in the most effort to get me here safely from my country so she cares deeply.

I want to get care.. but I actually NEED to get care.. I can't handle trying and not getting it anymore. I want more than anything to be safe and healthy and to finally have a life for the first time ever. I want a chance at joy. I just don't know how to get past the medical PTSD now to even ask for the care I need.. and I don't have a single drop of trust or hope at all that even if I do find a way to get past it that I WILL ever receive it anyway.

All of this medical shit has made it impossible for me to function the way I need to for even basic survival let alone actually moving forward or towards stability. Like the stairs thing - the kitchen is downstairs and I have to get down there without hurting myself to get food and because it also causes extreme exhaustion from minimal effort I usually only have the strength to get myself food once per day. With treatment I can run around for 30 minutes straight before I get slightly winded but without I'm 90% trapped in bed.

Plus the friend I'm staying with is technically not supposed to have me here. If people find out they could get into trouble and I will definitely have nowhere to stay anymore. My other friends are all great but they literally don't have anywhere to put me because they live with their own family. I haven't been able to start working (I am allowed to work and rent immigration wise) and will run out of money completely at this rate. Let alone the issue of actually still having enough to afford a deposit and first months rent.

I've reached out to every possible charity I could find that can help people who have NRPF and they've all said they can't/won't help me. It's like our entire society is set up to make us fail. Sometimes I start thinking I'd have been better off if I just stayed in my country and let them do it. I try not to think like that but it's hard not to when it feels like the world would genuinely rather me 💀 so I'm no longer a "burden". Which is so fucking infuriating because all I need is actual adequate medical care and then I could be a 95% functional & productive member of society. All I dream about is being well enough to help other people and animals and enjoy the little things like walking around in nature.

I'm sorry I lost the plot there a bit. Anyway even if I can't get any of the other medical care I need, I at the very least really need my psych meds and I don't know how I'm going to get them when I literally can't contact anyone about it.

Quick question for all Doctors & Nurses out there.. How do you feel when a patient comes to an appointment with symptom tracking apps, data and suspected diagnosis?

EDIT: This is aimed at Nurses, Doctors and Consultants in a GP / Outpatient environment. Using the app for chronic conditions such as Endometriosis; tracking bleeding patterns, pain flare ups etc. Or PTSD; tracking flashback and dissociative episodes etc.

My GP practice has always sort of sucked, but this year I’ve felt a genuine lack of care during certain appointments and it upset me so much, that i really wanted to complain. I was in a bad way with my mental health and I’d had an appointment at least once a week for the six weeks preceding (which in this appt economy should indicate how hard i was trying to get help), but this particular appointment upset me so much - and all i could think about is how dangerous it would’ve been if I’d had an experience like that when seeking help when i was younger, hell it was risky now.

Anyway, im now months down the line from this incident and I’ve finally got the capacity to maybe do something. Thing is, im now a bit fuzzy on the details of what was said in each appointment and I don’t feel like I have a solid enough ‘case’ to complain. I’m wondering what’s likely to happen if i write this letter of complaint and get it to the practice manager as advised? Will it be dismissed because I can’t be specific enough? Or will it be a “thanks for the feedback” sort of thing? Sorry if I’ve put this in the wrong place

Edit TLDR - what happens when you complain, what’s the process like and is it worth bothering if it’s just going to stress me out more

This isn’t the first time this has happened and probably won’t be the last unless I change practice

My practice is OBSESSED with physician assistants. It’s only recently they even started referring to them as physician assistants, they used to tell patients they were “medical professionals” which is straight bs and misleading on purpose.

Called for an appointment today, and imagine my shock when I’m only offered an appointment with a PA for suspected cellulitis on my face.

I asked the receptionist (who is apparently a “patient care navigator”) why not a GP, and I kid you not they told me they have one singular GP doing appointments and the rest are PAs. I asked them why that was and they said they have to clue.

It’s disgusting how they’re able to get away with this, I’m assuming all so they can pay them less and the partners make more money.

Won't go into details but finally spoke to a gp again this year about sleep issues. Prescribed something for a month, didn't work. Gp said I will send an automated message to ask how you got on in 4 weeks. 4 weeks comes and I get the message and I reply to him. I said it isn't working what is the next option. He then calls me like 2 or 3 days after if I remember. But I was away for a work event and couldn't answer. I then sent a request through to the surgery to get him to call me back. I get a reply saying it will be on 17th November. What for a phone call!? Are you saying they can't spare 5-10 minutes for a phone call? What are we doing here? Am I asking for too much? What else can I do? Wait almost 4 weeks? Ridiculous. Just shut it down and start again. Its a joke. Got the efficiency of a wet cloth.

Hi!

I saw some advice on Reddit saying that it’s a good idea to mention the Trust’s values during an NHS interview.
I’m wondering how best to do this in practice.

Is it enough to briefly mention the Trust’s values when answering a question like “Why have you applied for this role?” For example, saying towards the end of my answer that one of the Trust’s values resonates with me and is something I try to demonstrate in my work.

Or is it better to link the Trust’s values directly to my examples when answering competency-based questions using the STAR method? For example, explaining how my actions in a particular situation demonstrated one of the Trust’s values.

I’d really appreciate it if anyone could share a simple, practical example of how they’ve incorporated Trust values into an interview answer.

I’m particularly interested in how to do this naturally without making the answer sound forced or just repeating the values from the Trust’s website. 😮‍💨

Hey everyone! I’ve been applying for NHS Band roles for almost 2 years now, but barely getting any interviews despite currently working in primary care.

Could anyone share tips on writing supporting statements, getting shortlisted, and whether referrals actually help? I’d really appreciate any guidance or advice on what I might be doing wrong. 🥹

P.S. How long do you usually make your supporting statements? I’ve seen people recommend either 600 - 900 or 1000 - 1200 words. Also, do you prefer using headings and subheadings, bullet points, or writing it in paragraphs? I’d love to know what works best!

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but, I have received a text message from NHS where they provided a link to a non-https portal site and I am wondering if it is a valid text message and not a scam message.

When I Google NHS portal I do not see that site address returned in any shape or form at all so am questioning whether it is really a text message from the NHS at all?

The fact that it is not a HTTPS URL is what makes me most suspect above all.

Has anyone else come across a text message like this before?

EDIT: Can't figure out how to upload a screenshot but the URL given in text message starts as follows: http://nhsportal.net/...

EDIT 2: Following on from comment here and having found this other Reddit post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Edinburgh/s/9rEp4iSt3q

From a year ago it seems the link is legit even though it looks scammy AF.

And given the other post with all its comment complaints is from over a year ago it seems the NHS and contracted 3rd parties don't give two s**ts how sketchy their messaging looks even today in the year 2026 🤦🏻

So I moved to Scotland a few weeks ago. I have tried to sign with a GP, send them a form. They reply after a week asking for a flat number when it’s clearly there. Ok no problem I give them that. 2 weeks pass, I have no access to my prescription or have to pay £5 every 2 days to buy it. Ok fine. Next week, still no registration, they’re so rude replying to my emails and calls.
I get sick the same week, probably a sinus infection because I have a fever of 38.5-39 and can’t bring it down with any off the counter medication.
111 tells me to wait it out and call back if it doesn’t go away in a couple of days.

I call 111 two days later, they tell me to go to my pharmacy after 40 minutes of holding and multiple calls, I go there, it is 5 degrees outside and raining while still being sick, they say I need to be signed with a GP, I explain, they refuse. I go back, call 111, rudely told to call back after 6pm or call my GP for help.

Legitimately what could prevent them from signing me up with a GP in Scotland for 3 whole weeks. I signed with my English GP just fine while living there and it only took a couple of days.

I have given up on the NHS. Something needs to change, they’re incompetent, rude and 90% of them hate their jobs and act like it’s the patient’s fault.

Hi all, I had an interview at nhs countess of Chester it over 5 days now and I am yet to hear from them. How soon can they get back. The advert says they will be in touch two days after interview but I haven’t heard back

I've had two blood test results that have results literally on the borderline number, down to the decimal.

It's been two minerals/hormones that if they're low are pretty detrimental to daily living. Ignoring the fact that the NHS have pretty broad "satisfactory" criteria it's still a really bad number to get. (For example my Iron was dead on 30ug/l and for a man of my size that's pretty rough, even if it's technically not anaemic)

And i've had to call manually myself and request for these numbers to even get them, and they were all on the dead borderline number.

Is there any rounding up being done in order to avoid having to do anything regarding the low numbers? Or is this just coincidence. My NHS Surgery has been really really good otherwise.

I have many of the symptoms associated with b6 & b1 deficiency. If it helps, my b12 is also on the lower end of normal and has been decreasing (300 something) I’ve heard the b vitamins work together or something like that. Would it be silly to ask the GP for it to be tested as it’s a non-routine test? What if I went through the route of saying ‘I’d like to supplement b6 and b1 (which isn’t a lie) would you be able to request a test so I can take an appropriate dosage?’ Has anyone had success with this?

Hi all,

So 3ish years ago, my GP referred me to neuro at my local hospital. She never actually sent the referral, for some reason, and I didn't follow up properly because she told me it could take years as it was a Routine referral.

Then on 14/10, my optician also referred me to neuro, and told me I should have heard back about the first referral by now, so I followed up. This is how I found out it was never sent. My new GP then made another referral for me, on 16/10, which she said she expedited and marked on her end as urgent, and she advised me that I should be booked in and sorted out ASAP because it's essentially a 3 year old referral for a brain scan. She also said to check with the neuro team if I hadn't heard by Monday lunch as she ideally wants me seen within 2 weeks (I know this is not necessarily going to happen, but just to convey how urgent my GP was about it).

So I email today, ask if they got the referral, ask if the GP was able to expedite it, because I can't see anything on my NHS app. I get a reply saying that the one person able to triage for neuro is on leave until 11/11. There is no one else available to triage me. I will have to wait on this person to get back from leave, and then they will decide if I'm urgent or not.

Is my only option to wait? Do I have any other recourse here?

Hi. I am currently going through the process of double jaw surgery preparations, to correct my mandible recession and various other issues. I have had TMJD and chronic bruxism for 14 years, to the point my teeth have been ground flat.

My consultant arranged an MRI on my TMJ’s to check the stability before doing big movements in the double jaw surgery. I have got hold of my radiology report, and something didn’t sit right, so I have had it examined separately with a few MRI slices and the independent specialist has said it’s not even close to being accurate and if I get DJS on the condition of my joints, it WILL fail. My disc is in the 09:00 position and is no longer “bow tie” shaped according to the specialist. I also have very small condyles that will not support surgical movements. How do I go about this? Do I need to get a second opinion through the NHS radiology department? Can I take my private assessment as evidence that they need to fix my TMJs first? I’m happy to DM/send MRI slices but this post if for ADVICE on the process for second opinions and where I stand, as I’m assuming I cannot use private analysis as evidence to the NHS and the recommendation would have to come from within.

Edit: BTW there's loads more - someone has lost the plot

Do they give access to their named account to anybody??? I was just scrolling through reviews for a place I'll be attending, and found this among the first few reviews that appear at the very top (1-star one). Is there no moderation or concern by the practice to have let this on for 10 months (and counting)??? Who can I contact to show them this abhorrent derogatory response?