• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Struggling at work

T

Tug1970

Newbie
Messages
3
Ok here we go has anyone got any advice for me.
I work in healthcare (agency)and am back at work after being off sick with angina.
The thing is I also have been recently diagnosed with
Neuropathy in my left leg (sensory loss) and I am type two on exenatide 10mg bd. I also have ischemic heart disease.
I am really struggling at work to get round and do the job
physically also I am struggling at home.
Thing is I am angency worker and don't get ssp and been declined for ESA on the grounds the agency should
give me ssp.
Anyway my gp said I come back to work on phased return to see how goes and is not going well. It looks like I may have to go off sick again and be by without any income at and possibly finished by work and then be in the situation off not being able claim JSA as I would classed put my self out of work (this was told to me by the dhss when I phoned them).
Has anyone got any advice as I am at my wits end and no this is not any sort of joke.
 
Ooo thats a hard one, have a word with Citizens Advice. Also have a word with your agency, you are paying NI so something should be available. You are sort of self-employed, so not sure what else to suggest. Good luck.
 
I'm in a similar position having worked as an agency temp on assignment to the NHS until last January when I became ill and had to be hospitalised with pneumonia. I had been advised I was being kept on indefinitely yet as soon as I went off sick I was advised by the agency that my NHS employers 'no longer needed me'. I was on ESA for a while, I didn't recover well from the pneumonia, I had depression and chronic fatigue and then came the diagnosis that I was diabetic and then I was discovered to have precancerous uterine cells. So it was all happening at once. The agency didn't care, neither did my NHS employers. So I was not only ill, but also out of a job.

I was called to go for a medical by ATOS and of course, I didn't score enough points and my ESA was stopped. I'm almost 60 and I don't bounce back from illness like I used to, I also live alone so when I'm ill, there's no-one to take over while I rest, so I don't get to rest. ATOS don't take circumstances into consideration and neither does anyone else.

So I applied for JobSeekers and was told I could appeal against the ESA decision but to be honest, I'm too exhausted to go through all that palaver of appeals and tribunals. Just what I need on top of being ill and sick with worry and trying to get my head around diabetes and the possibility I may need a hysterectomy soon.

I want to work and I'm happy to go back to work so long as it's within my limitations and my health needs are taken into consideration and it's with an employer who genuinely cares about their staff. I've never worked for anyone who hasn't been more than happy with my capabilities and my efficiency but I'm now demanding something in return - a better working environment and conditions and a better attitude from employers and I WILL be asking LOTS of questions should I get any interviews. I'm not prepared to work for anyone who uses me as recyclable employment fodder - I'M A HUMAN BEING AND WILL BE REMINDING THEM OF THAT FACT.
 
Back
Top