One way to the UK?

Okay so it’s been almost two months since I properly wrote in my journal, so hopefully this entry won’t seem too rushed but I want to update everyone and also get up to speed on current happenings…

So returning from Turkey coincided with the end of the 6-month rental agreement Mara and I had with Keymoves, in Bromley-By-Bow. I initially was very settled in East London; had gym, trainer, people to see, kickboxing nearby etc, BUT anyhow, due to some personal circumstances and also considering I had my new job at the NHS in Victoria, I decided it would be a good time to move onto the other side of London – almost another world away! So I moved to Battersea Park – Battersea and Chelsea run into each other in South/West London, and are quite the posh area to live, however, I’m actually in Battersea Park Estate so a bit like being ‘on the other side of the tracks’!!! Many shops and just a short bus ride to Clapham Junction which has loads of things there; however it’s on the National Rail which isn’t so bad being 1 stop from Victoria (work), however the trains aren’t nearly as often as a tube and so lately I’ve instead been taking the bus each morning to get to work! It’s quite nice to be above-ground with fresh air and being able to read a good book on the way into work.

So I moved house and hence gym, local shops etc all change also. I now shop at ASDA on weekends! It’s quite a cheap shop for those who don’t know. I guess I’m lucky that London offers flexibility to change things in an attempt to make life in general seem better… so after a few hectic weeks involving situations and moving house etc, my boss called me into his office for a ‘bringing to task’ speech, where he told me I hadn’t been performing well over the past few weeks and that I seemed to be reading the paper or being online during the days, and also coming and going at all different times… so I agreed to one point only, that I had been slack lately and that would change, however I stook my ground on the other points! I am employed specifically as his Personal Assistant, and explained that if he doesn’t give me work to do, then I have no work to do! Hence why I read the paper or go online. I also explained that seeing as he doesn’t have much work to do, to pass onto me, that when he does actually give me work I make it drag out over the day to stop me being so bored with nothing to do come the afternoon! I also explained I’d only ever taken two lunchbreaks since I started working there, and I start at 08:30am every morning, then no lunch break, and so that’s why I leave ‘early’ at 4:30pm, which is STILL working an extra hour each day! And I showed him my flextime sheets recording all my movements. So ‘two up’ to him. I stated my intention to resign the following week. And so for the last month every morning I begin by asking him for work… and asking again before he goes out to a meeting, and also telling him when I come/go for lunch on those occasions! Gosh without being too slanderous, he seems weak of character, or at least uncomfortable trying to ‘bring someone to task’ as he was with me. The whole 15 minute conversation he sat there with this smug/weird smiling thing on his face and was quite surprised when I said ‘yep that’s fine, I agree I’ve been distracted lately and I’ll pick up the slack right away’ he was like ‘ohh. okay’. As my HR officer said anyway, he can’t actually threaten me with ‘you’ll be gone in a few weeks if this doens’t change’ as the NHS and all Government employees have a certain list of things which needs to be done for a grievance or dismissal! You would think he would know those things…. obvioulsy not. IT’s strange too, as he didn’t seem to realise you need to tender for certain works to be done until another team member explained it to him… Heaven forbid we are actually audited or someone applies for certain freedom-of-information documents as my boss and some external people would probably be done for some form on insider trading!

Anyhow as much as I love the health department; I definitely prefer the NT/Australian system which just seems to work and isn’t so disjointed as here, and I definitely prefer a more ‘hands on’ type role, like in a Hospital or CEO office, and working with people who actually have healthcare experience. Most of my current Healthcare for London team has never even worked in a bloody hospital of GP clinic, and yet it’s them, along with pan-london consultations that are deciding the 10 year plan of healthcare in London!!!

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.