Hi HelzSG

It's great that you have turned a corner and feel ready to go back to work. However, I am sorry about the sadness and anxiety you are now feeling about your return.

Macmillan Cancer Support has some good information on this subject. You can find it here.

Please let us know how you are getting on with your arrangements for going back. There are others here who may be able to advise you.

Welcome to Cancer Chat,

Jane

Thank you so much Jane I will and thanks for the information about mcmillan, I will have a look now, much appreciated 

Helen 

Hi,

It seems ironic that the NHS so often fails to adequately support its staff when they are ill. That said, after 17 years in NHS management I usually found that bad things happened because of c*ck ups, rather than conspiracies. Someone may be assuming that you're 100% fit physically and mentally.

You are entitled not only to a phased return but also for reasonable adjustments to be made to allow for your medical condition. If you haven't yet made it clear to HR and your line manager that you may need some reasonable adjustments to help your return to work, it would be worth doing that soon. In particular, try to make sure your line manager is aware of your anxieties as it wouldn't be in anyone's interest to drop you in at the deep end and risk you becoming ill.

If you are a member of a union, it might be worth talking about your problems with them if your line manager isn't helpful. 

I hope this helps and doesn't sound too bossy :-)

Good luck!

Dave

What trust do you work for? Are you a general nurse? Get in touch with your Union, that's not right at all, has you manager told you they plan to do this or is this what other staff have said to you? You must be a strong person to go through the what you have, you will get through the this.

So I contacted my union,  they advised to draft an email, sent it to HR, resource manager, line manager and occupational health doctor who was suppoting me, asked for a response to the email before I returned to work. The next day I got a call from the clinical service manager (who I didn't send the email to) who after a long discussion and some agueing basically said I can have a phased return on a different ward or return to my ward full time, they were not going to change their mind about this. No one else has responded to my email.

I have since been in to see my resource manager and line manager and explained how is all effected me, line manager said he would make a few phone calls but it hasn't made a difference, not sure he has actually tried to help at all. He admitted he thought it was a good idea. 

No one understands how ridiculous this all is and how things will be so much more difficult for me going back to work.

So I went back to work yesterday on to an unfamiliar ward with volitile patients. All the things my manager and service manager promised are lies. The ward is short staffed and I'm counted in the no.s, there is no time to have some "head space" and I cannot take a break when I need to. I'm having 1:1 contact with volitile patients and iv been informed by other staff there have been a series of assaults on staff there recently. I'm not office based, there was an incident where a man became aggressive so i had to be on 1:1 close obs with another patient to free all the other staff to deal with the incident. I ended up being the sole nurse on the ward for an hour while the other nurse took his break (else he wouldn't be getting a break that day). The staff didn't know why I was there, the ward manager there hasn't been informed of my limitations and pretty much treated me like a newly qualified nurse. 

I tried my best but felt a bit of a burden to the staff there and found myself explaining time and time again my limitations and apologising for not being particularly helpful to the ward. 

I have never felt so abandoned, none of my colleagues can understand it either. After all the years of putting my heart and soul into my ward and supporting all those who i'v come in contact with, when I need some support it's not there.

I feel like quitting my job but obviously I can't. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do. I know I will have to continue to talk to the managers about it but all this has made me realise that no one is listening. 

I could make a formal complaint but I fear the rest of my career may be effected if I do. 

That's absolutely ridiculous, all I can suggest is that you get back to the union and tell them how things have developed.

You're right, a formal complaint can be counter-productive and is best used as a last resort. When I went back to work, Occy Health insisted I went back on a phased return with reasonable adjustments. It would be worth emailing them CCd to HR and Union Rep (to have evidence that you've told them all) to give them an update. If that fails, it sounds to me as if you'd be well within your rights to go back to your GP and get signed off again. Your Trust has a duty of care to you, as well as the patients, they appear to be failing you in this regard.

I really hope all this works out for the best for you.

Dave

Thanks Davek,

I'm keeping a diary and i write everything down that's been effecting me or where I think iv been lied to. I find recently that I get a bit tongue tied when trying to explain things verbally whether it be face to face of on the phone so iv drafted another email although iv havn't sent it yet. 

Iv been looking through all allsorts of policies and its all there about responsibilities for supporting staff however as you can see the reality is quite different. Doesn't seem to matter what I say they just keep telling me is better for the unit and for me.... It really isn't! 

Anyway I'll keep fighting and marching on hopefully they will see sense or gain some compassion.

Thanks for all your advice  

Translating policy into practice is always a challenge, especially when managers are lacking in empathy and cannot see that what they are doing is in breach of policies they have signed up to.

It sounds like you have the right approach :-)