Working in NHS v's private sector?

An opportunity has come up to leave a big PLC with whom I’ve worked for ~20 years, and to join the NHS in a non-clinical and non-public-facing role. I’m very tempted to jump, as I’m fed up with ‘performance management’, endless management initiatives that lead nowhere and achieve nothing, continuous talk of ‘driving efficiencies’ and feeling like I’m breaking my back to benefit only the shareholders.

Am I naïve in thinking that the public sector will be different?

Has anyone gone from the private sector to the NHS and could share their experience please?

Thanks

Completely

I’m fed up with ‘performance management’, endless management initiatives that lead nowhere and achieve nothing, continuous talk of ‘driving efficiencies’ and feeling like I’m breaking my back to benefit only the shareholders.

Change shareholders to stakeholders and you’ll have it about right.

Yup drop Shareholders for pointless Goverment figures and you’re there.

You do get less pay in with it but you retire on gold encrusted platinum pension apparently.

I’m fed up with ‘performance management’, endless management initiatives that lead nowhere and achieve nothing…

Don’t join the NHS then!

My Wife works for the NHS, I never have, but it’s not a massively different as you might think.

I used to work for RBS, a MASSIVE (at the time) PLC, but it’s tiny compared to the NHS – RBS had about 100k staff, NHS has 1.5 million!

Anyway, they’re not as different as you might think – massive organisations mean high-level polices might not seem to make much sense to you personally, because they were possibly written with thousands of workers in mind, it’s frustrating, but there seems to be as much, if not more scope to ignore / amend or ‘reinterpret’ them to fit.

One area which is massively different is performance and advancement – in RBS you were paid within a scale which was pretty broad plus there were performance related payments (aka bonuses) it was a ruthless environment, but everyone worked pretty hard – in the NHS you’re also paid within a band, but it’s narrower and more rigid – it doesn’t take long in a role to ‘top out’ 3/4 years will do it – at that point to earn any more money you need to either change roles or hope that the government will lift the cap.

Moving roles is relatively easier – you gain the proper skills, you wait for an opening (there are lots) and you apply, if you’ve got the right skills you’ll get an interview which are informal and technical, more of a test than the old quest for the shiniest shoes. Wife has had 4 jobs in 6 years and one major band rise (promotion) this is a good thing, the downside to it is this – just like a big organisation, but even more so, it’s incredibly hard to get fired from the NHS without doing something really, exceptionally stupid.

So, if you’re a ‘go getter’ there’s loads of places to go (your specific role may differ here, Wife is a Nurse) great – if you’re a plodder, and dare I say a slightly cynical old and worn-out worker who ‘topped out’ a decade ago or more who cannot earn more by working hard and gaining skills and is 99.9% certain to never be fired – what’s the point of doing much at all? With Clinical staff they’re usually kept away from the sharp end, but I’d hate to see a back-off workplace.

What area will it be ?

I moved from Private finance to NHS Finance

I moved from architects to nhs estates, pay may be less, probably better holiday and more flexible working. Endless management initiatives to save money (plenty of wasted money) and manager’s who you’re not sure what they do. Alot of folk tend to move about between trusts, staff retention can be low. Politically driven rather than profit or patient led.
A few more dull robot robot people but less than local authorities.

I did. I found it archaic, hierachical, frustrating. In some places there is a nasty bullying culture and some of the old guard are particularly unaccapting of anyone that hasnt spent their whole career in the nhs. I moved back to the private sector after 5 years. I try not to regret things as a rule but I do regret moving to the nhs

You’ll be private sector again before you know it.