Getting paid and getting fit

Newbold Comyn, February 2021

Two more of my vaccination shifts were cancelled, and I wondered whether all our customers have had their second jab so the clinic isn't needed any more. But I looked at the online calendar of available shifts and signed up to one that hadn't been cancelled, so we'll see whether that goes ahead. If it does, maybe I'll get a feel for whether I'll be needed in future.

One of the reasons for finding out is because... Big Announcement... I'm leaving the diabetes job. In just two more weeks, I'll be fully unemployed, apart from vaccinating and Mr MXF and helping mum and dad and the LTRP and everything I'm doing for the Buddhists. Leaving the substantive post but carrying on vaccinating has highlighted some 'interesting' aspects of NHS bureaucracy. 

The main thing is that I haven't yet been paid for vaccinating. Because my first shift was right at the end of February I expected the time to be added on to March, so I wasn't altogether surprised when it didn't appear in my payslip at the end of March. But when there was nothing in my April payslip either, I telephoned a nice lady in the payroll department. She checked it out, and agreed that yes, I hadn't been paid, and one reason was that a significant form had not been completed. She sent it to me, I completed it, and sent it back. But then there was another problem - a 'job' had not been created against which I could be paid, and I was directed to the 'Temporary Staff Services' department which is responsible for this.

Another nice lady in the TSS dept took my details and told me that her systems showed that I had been paid and I should check with payroll. When I recited the form of words that I had been given by the payroll lady she checked again, and this time agreed that I needed a job to be created, and sent me another form, which I duly signed and sent back. Then she sent me a different copy of the same form, and then a third version, and encouraged me to give her a call, which I did. No answer. I emailed back and was asked for my mobile number, which I gave with the proviso that I couldn't answer until a later time because of having to talk to patients. At the end of the clinic I saw that I'd had two missed calls during the time I'd given as being unavailable.

Anyway, I finally got hold of someone who explained what all the versions of the form meant, and I signed the one that I think I was supposed to sign and sent that one back. I was told that it might be too late to catch payroll for the end of May, so I might be looking forward to a bumper month in June. And if vaccination is ending, that might be the last of it.

My physical fitness is probably the worst it's been in my adult life. The knee is feeling much better but the hip is still playing up, and I'm certain it's because I'm not moving about enough. I haven't done any badminton for over a year, and I had to stop running in the autumn because of the knee problem, so apart from a bit of walking about once a week I've been doing nothing. So when my friend suggested we go and bat a shuttlecock about in the park I jumped at the chance, and while it couldn't be described as badminton because it was so windy (we were lucky if we could manage a rally lasting three shots) it was nice to feel I'd moved about a bit. We only played for an hour or so but I definitely felt it the next day, which is a good sign, especially as the hip felt so much better.

The same friend also recommended an online yoga class, which I finally tried this week. I could manage about half of the moves, and after an hour I was exhausted. I've never done yoga before but I quite liked it, and there's certainly a lot of scope for improvement.

In other badminton news, we had a message from the school where my Monday club used to play, saying that they were increasing their health and safety measures and before we would be allowed back we would have to show them our risk assessment, our health and safety policy, and evidence of our first aider's training. We wrote back saying that we are a bunch of friends playing badminton and we don't have any of these. I'm still doing the Buddhist class on Mondays so it doesn't affect me at the moment, but if the school where I used to play on Thursday is the same then it's not looking good for badminton.

Bureacracy

Cheltenham Pump Rooms, October 2019

I think I'm pretty much back in control again after that brief chaotic interlude. The tooth is OK, antibiotics finished, pictures, music and documents transferred to the new laptop and a start made on the podcasts and books, all the Buddhists are still happy as far as I know, and the house is behaving itself. I've even spent more time in the garden digging a trench and putting bricks in it between the 'beds' and the 'lawn'. I seem to have successfully employed a different Lady Gardener to help me maintain it - we'll see how that turns out. And there are daffodils coming up, and some snowdrops! It must be nearly Spring.

Things that have happened: I delivered the presentation to the Dietitians, which seemed to go down well although only four people attended apart from the two other Diabetes Dietitians. And I got paid for the session I did in November. Then there has been lots of hot Buddhist action. In the local group we have been delivering an introductory course for newcomers which has attracted more than 20 people, filling our small village hall to bursting. We had a team meeting in which I progressed with my plan for world domination by proposing to invite a lot of senior people from the movement to come to lead a session for our little group. And I went to the second meeting of the study group in Birmingham, via a different route which took 90 minutes during rush hour, so I'm not going that way again.

The most demanding task I have had to tackle this week has been the extraordinary bureaucracy involved in applying for a Blue Badge online on behalf of mum and dad. It was the longest and most complicated form I have ever had to tackle; way more difficult than applying for a divorce online. Each application took about an hour and required scanning and uploading documents and digital photographs, and when we had finished and successfully applied, the acknowledgement email required details that had not been requested within the application and threatened denial of the application if they weren't supplied. This is what the state demands of someone who has a condition requiring a Blue Badge.

See the bricks between the 'beds' and the 'lawn'? January 2020