The Magic Roundabout
The Magic Roundabout is, quite obviously to us Brits, a 70s children's TV show.
It is also the slang term we use at my workplace to describe people working in different offices at different times of the week, month or year.
Rotation is a fact of life within some areas of the NHS. Staff can gain experience, learn a different role, get a secondment to try out a job that they might want to apply for in the future, help out colleagues by filling in when sickness or vacancies deplete the workforce, or simply keep up the variety by working in different associated locations around the hospital. A consultant will have a specialism, but they can also rotate through other areas and cover A&E /ER as well. A radiographer will qualify in Radiographic Imaging, but will, at least in our Trust, often be requested or even required to work, not just in X-ray, but also in CT, Vascular Access, A&E /ER and even Interventional Radiography as required. A Staff Nurse, particularly on bank staff, is unlikely to be working on the same ward all the time. melody23 will be able to speak from more direct experience than me on that one, mind.
So now, my Trust have decided that some of us admins should also be rotating around the departments, moving on, doing more, expanding our horizons.
Hence I find myself two floors up from my normal office on a regular basis, working with the medical secretaries within our department. It's a bit of a change from my usual residence. For a start, it's warm. It's also above ground and has a window to the outside world. I have real live colleagues in the same office all the time, who talk to me and make me laugh, cover for me when I need to make tea, run around delivering a message or simply leave my desk for a while.
Now I hear the next Great Plan is to move me from the cave which I normally inhabit to this office in the sky on a permanent basis. That means an instant gain of four immediate colleagues in this office, plus the Operations Manager's PA and my line manager in the office next door.
The phone rings more often than it does in my office, and I have found myself having to remember the protocols for dealing with patients as well as taking internal calls. It does, however, bring me in contact with more consultants than I used to work with, and takes me one step closer to an upgrade at some point, with all the things which come with it.
wordchazers-words work dayjob admin secretary
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Comments
wolfgirl569 wrote on January 11, 2016, 5:39 PM
You had me for a permanent move when you said its warm. Hope you are enjoying it
missfortune wrote on January 12, 2016, 12:24 AM
Several of my friends were doing rotation work when they were studying to be nurses and internists - they said they loved the experiences they had but any time they had to switch departments they were a little intimidated by the seasoned vets.
cmoneyspinner wrote on January 12, 2016, 1:59 PM
I have to laugh at the way you started your post. You say “quite obviously”? A children's show? Really? It was obvious to me! Also never heard the term used at work and there were places I worked that had a rotation policy. I agree with that admins should get more exposure though.
AliCanary wrote on January 14, 2016, 1:02 PM
We had a program at my hotel called "cross-training", in which employees of one department spent time working in other departments to get a better idea of how different areas of the hotel are run and what their specific challenges were. I think this was a great idea, as some departments have to work with each other, and it increased understanding about how the departments could help one another once people had been on the other end of things!
WordChazer wrote on January 15, 2016, 3:38 PM
Me too. I like the daylight, personally. And that's where I've been much of this week - in the office in the sky. The 'warm' bit is dependent on who is in, as my asthmatic colleague prefers fresh air rather than airconditioned air. But that's a whole new post for sometime when my fingers have cooled down a bit.
WordChazer wrote on January 15, 2016, 3:40 PM
Consultants can eat the timid for breakfast, I have decided. My consultant boss holds no fears for me. I have worked with worse, and he knows it.
WordChazer wrote on January 15, 2016, 3:44 PM
The Magic Roundabout is a very famous UK children's TV show. It was originally a French production but was remade for the British market when I was a child, then again when I was old enough to really appreciate the remake. Psychedelia and oddity rules, along with the fact that the characters have great names. Google or Wiki it - the details will tell you much more than I can in a mere comment.
I think the use of the term is unique to my workplace, as so many staff are required to rotate as part of their job role.
WordChazer wrote on January 15, 2016, 3:47 PM
That's the idea behind our rotation, I think. The more versatile staff are, the easier it will be to find short term cover when a staffer leaves, is sick or is on holiday. Trouble is, I shoot that one in the foot, as I have already been there and done it in my varied admin career. Oops. Oh well, at least I can finally turn my knowledge and experience to some good use.