From Desk Jockey To Porter - A Good Thing?

[LazyGun]

A new initiative being introduced to get DoH civil servants better acquainted with the everyday realities of life at the interface between service and the public. A good thing, a bad thing, meh, or just a cheap publicity stunt do you think?

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/civil-servants-swap-whitehall-corridors-for-the-nhs-front-line

Be interesting if they expanded the idea to DWP staff spending a week unemployed or whatever :)

[jim360]

In recent years a high percentage of DWP staff have been offered that swap on a permanent basis...

Cheap stunt.

[Sqad]

Oh!...what WILL our socialised medical service be exposed to next?

They will just get in the bloody way.

A cheap stunt.

[LazyGun]

I agree it is a stunt. I do look forward to seeing a DoH policy wonk portering though, or being an HCA on a ward for a day :)

[jim360]

Aww man, and I was all pumped up to argue with you and vigorously defend Civil Servants...

[woofgang]

wellI agree about getting in the way but i do think that DoH is out of touch and needs to understand what its really like. A mate of mine who is in NHS management did some temporary work for the D of H and was (is) a sensible woman who used to keep in close touch with clinicians and bring the "Labour party edict stuff to us for comment" She used to bring junior DoH staff down from London to talk to clinicians and it was amazing the questions that they would ask and the suff they didn't know.