Bit of a complicated one this….

Mrs FD completed her F1 & F2 training in South Yorkshire and then was posted on an ST rotation in West Yorkshire, meaning we had to move house up north to make it commutable for her work. This means that I now have to commute to South Yorkshire everyday. All this has meant that basically we have very hectic lives and dont get to see much of each other or our 1 year old son. (thank you wonderful NHS)

She has recently learnt that her ST3 post could be any one of the east coast hospitals which would be in some cases a 2 hr each way commute for her every day, or staying away from home when she is on shift.

However to do this basically I would have to stop work to look after our 1 year old son, which we can not afford to do.

What can she do to appeal against this as basically it will be un workable for us. Or if she tries to do some thing about it will this risk her future career prosepects?

Apparently the guy who sets the rota does not care for peoples personal circumstances… but I know obviously this will effect other people too not just my wife.

Any advice much appreciated.

I think any reasonable person would see that you as a family are simply unable to keep constantly moving around to her ‘postings’.

I would write a letter to the person *above* the guy who sets the rota.

Good luck.

What can she do to appeal against this as basically it will be un workable for us. Or if she tries to do some thing about it will this risk her future career prosepects?

Apparently the guy who sets the rota does not care for peoples personal circumstances… but I know obviously this will effect other people too not just my wife.

Which specialty? In mine Yorks and the Humber Deanery is subdivided into W Yorks (based round Leeds)/S Yorks (Sheffield)/N&E Yorks (Hull & York). It would seem unlikely that a W Yorks rotation would send anyone to E Yorks; has she actually got an N&E Yorks rotation?

The person responsible for the placements is the Training Programme Director; most of the time they do try & take into account people’s needs & preferences; in Yorkshire the overwhelming majority want to work in W or S Yorks so someone will always be disappointed.

It may be worth approaching the TPD if the placements haven’t been finalised to see if there is any flex in the system; if they have been done, then I suspect you will either need to find someone to swap with (as this is within the same Deanery this may be permissible) or demonstrate a change in circumstances and wait for a slot to come up in W Yorks. The nuclear option is to approach the `Regional Adviser or, failing that, the Postgraduate Dean but there is no guarantee of success with that, and it may rather burn her bridges with the TPD, especially in a small specialty.

I think any reasonable person would see that you as a family are simply unable to keep constantly moving around to her ‘postings’.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. In order to balance the training needs of the individual (you can’t do all your training in one hospital, as some subspecialties are present in one hospital but not another) & service needs of the NHS there will always be movement. Someone will always end up with an evil commute.

FunkyDunc – my email address is in my profile if you want to discuss this further offline.

Andy

DOI – until recently (currently OOP) Regional junior doctors’ committee BMA rep; ST6 in Anaesthesia.