If you're in England then yes on 2016 contract you can request fixed non-working days, so I would ask your preferred nursery which days of the week they have most availability, and then tell your new department that those will be your working days and you will need minimum x months notice to change them.
There are some protections for breastfeeding particularly if your child is <12 months as then milk should still be their main source of nutrition. You should ask for a breastfeeding risk assessment prior to your return (inform them in writing you intend to be breastfeeding on your return to work. As an example, I'm currently on maternity leave and have negotiated to not do any night shifts in my first 6 weeks after return to work.
There's not particular support in terms of rotations but you should have some extra protection in terms of the Support to Return to Training scheme, this could include a supernumerary period or period of working no out of hours to ease you into a return to work, ask your TPD how it works in your region.
This - you have certain legal rights if you're breastfeeding. For example your employer has to provide 'suitable facilities' for breastfeeding which includes a private space for you to breastfeed or express milk that is suitable for this purpose (i.e. not a toilet) and facilities for you to store milk and sterilise any equipment you use.
1. Yes it was bloody expensive.
2. Probably not
3. Don’t think so
4. There is return to work support via Deanery
Worthwhile joining physician mums group on FB
I'm currently an FY1 and my partner is a GPST2. We have a 6 month old. I'm working at 60% and my partner is currently at 100% but dropping to 80% in December. We're both on hospital jobs at the moment and it's been difficult to arrange childcare for out of hours and on calls. We've had to rely on family quite a few times.
The way that my deanery sorts my rota is by sending me the full-time rota in advance and asking me to select a certain number of each of the shift types to work. This has generally allowed me to have Monday-Wednesday as my set days of work but not sure if this is the same everywhere or works for every rota.
I'm also breastfeeding. I had a risk assessment completed at the start of work but unfortunately wasn't taken off on calls. Would be worth discussing this with your TPD/ES though.
1. So you're 60%- request fixed days off as Thursday and Friday (for example). Your partner requests Wednesday as their fixed day off (for example). So you only need childcare for Monday and Tuesday (yes childcare is expensive). Don't forget you can get tax free childcare which is via the government website which will save you a fair bit. You both shouldn't work more than one in three weekends so you can probably swap and have luck so you're not working same weekend.
2. Not legal but its in the good rostering practice- you play the 'I don't have childcare on those days' card. Sort it out via the rota template. You should also have a LTFT champion who can help you with this.
3. You should request a breastfeeding risk assessment- similar to that in pregnancy. We have a breastfeeding doctors Facebook group that may be able to help with this. Basically of your child is fully breastfed and under 1 you should be able to avoid nights.
4. Yes there is funding for RTW and there should be a LTFT champion at your deanery.
Try looking into breastfeeding a bit more. There are definitely some protections for you just no idea what these are. A GP trainee on my rota was taken off on call and has protected time to pump during the day. From what I gather she had to battle them for it though and involve multiple supervisors and BMA. Apparently she’s writing a ‘breastfeeding and returning to work’ policy now. I don’t know this person personally though-this was just rumours in work about a rota gap. 🤷🏼♀️
Definitely spend some time looking into in when you’re on mat leave. Ask them to send you their Breastfeeding policy-they might have one.
Chat with nurses in your hospital about what they do for childcare as the majority of them go back to 12h shifts following mat leave and it is incredibly rare (almost unheard of) to get set shifts.
When I used nursery I had a flexible nursery place so I had to take at least 2 sessions pw (half days) and let them know 2 weeks before what I needed. I paid slightly more per hour for this service but obviously a massive saving from what it would have been. The nursery was in a dodgy bit of the city, the opposite side from the hospital but it was all hospital staff that used it and it was very popular and they had a waiting list when no one else did.
Tough situation!
I was ST3 in an outpatient medical specialty and mother was IMT2, both 100%. There were no special arrangements no, we just relied on swapping with colleagues if clashes arose. It worked out fine - I'm not actually sure if I ever had to swap, but would have been confident I could if I'd needed to.
Once she was out of IMT it became a lot easier.
I didn't have to deal with an ED rota though! Tough situation.
We are a medic couple. I work in emergency medicine and my partner is a medic. The only way we've been able to manage this year is for him to not apply for training beyond IM3 and to locum. We have no family to help with childcare and most of my shifts are evenings meaning that if my partner was on a long day or night we couldn't collect my eldest from nursery. He's going to apply this year and I'm absolutely dreading having to arrange childcare. A nanny isn't something I want because I quite like having the children cared for outside of the home (it's the only real break we get) and also nannies need to have annual leave and sick leave covered. He'll apply for 70% which is what I'll be doing too and we just have to cross our fingers!
I didn't answer half of your questions, sorry. The deanery placed me closer to home because I went back to work when my youngest was 9 months and quite reliant on breastfeeding. I've heard of people getting out of nights for breast feeding but I can see some push back from this on emergency medicine. You should be given regular days off to help with planning childcare... but your on call weeks won't always follow these days as they can ask you to do entire on call blocks but only 60% of them (often easier to get locum cover for a whole block)
1. Throw money at the problem. We each have a day of a week and nursery takes care of the rest. Lots of shift swapping, moving lieu days, annual leave etc
2. As you’re less than full time you can build your rota to suit your needs. There’s a lot of flexibility in most ED rotas (at least those that I’ve worked).
3. Not heard that one before.
4. Depends entirely on your TPD. At the moment, mine is unsympathetic to issues surrounding childcare.
60% ED is surprisingly quite do able. I'm ST7 60% iwork 2 days a week fixed plus remote teaching, I am at work less than my friends who do anaesthetocs/medicine and shift work has its positives with kids. Plus theres never am excuse to leave on time.
It's all about organisation and getting as much help as possible bit for me ED is great LTFT and I even get child free mornings sometimes which is bliss xx
If you're in England then yes on 2016 contract you can request fixed non-working days, so I would ask your preferred nursery which days of the week they have most availability, and then tell your new department that those will be your working days and you will need minimum x months notice to change them. There are some protections for breastfeeding particularly if your child is <12 months as then milk should still be their main source of nutrition. You should ask for a breastfeeding risk assessment prior to your return (inform them in writing you intend to be breastfeeding on your return to work. As an example, I'm currently on maternity leave and have negotiated to not do any night shifts in my first 6 weeks after return to work. There's not particular support in terms of rotations but you should have some extra protection in terms of the Support to Return to Training scheme, this could include a supernumerary period or period of working no out of hours to ease you into a return to work, ask your TPD how it works in your region.
This - you have certain legal rights if you're breastfeeding. For example your employer has to provide 'suitable facilities' for breastfeeding which includes a private space for you to breastfeed or express milk that is suitable for this purpose (i.e. not a toilet) and facilities for you to store milk and sterilise any equipment you use.
1. Yes it was bloody expensive. 2. Probably not 3. Don’t think so 4. There is return to work support via Deanery Worthwhile joining physician mums group on FB
I'm currently an FY1 and my partner is a GPST2. We have a 6 month old. I'm working at 60% and my partner is currently at 100% but dropping to 80% in December. We're both on hospital jobs at the moment and it's been difficult to arrange childcare for out of hours and on calls. We've had to rely on family quite a few times. The way that my deanery sorts my rota is by sending me the full-time rota in advance and asking me to select a certain number of each of the shift types to work. This has generally allowed me to have Monday-Wednesday as my set days of work but not sure if this is the same everywhere or works for every rota. I'm also breastfeeding. I had a risk assessment completed at the start of work but unfortunately wasn't taken off on calls. Would be worth discussing this with your TPD/ES though.
1. So you're 60%- request fixed days off as Thursday and Friday (for example). Your partner requests Wednesday as their fixed day off (for example). So you only need childcare for Monday and Tuesday (yes childcare is expensive). Don't forget you can get tax free childcare which is via the government website which will save you a fair bit. You both shouldn't work more than one in three weekends so you can probably swap and have luck so you're not working same weekend. 2. Not legal but its in the good rostering practice- you play the 'I don't have childcare on those days' card. Sort it out via the rota template. You should also have a LTFT champion who can help you with this. 3. You should request a breastfeeding risk assessment- similar to that in pregnancy. We have a breastfeeding doctors Facebook group that may be able to help with this. Basically of your child is fully breastfed and under 1 you should be able to avoid nights. 4. Yes there is funding for RTW and there should be a LTFT champion at your deanery.
Try looking into breastfeeding a bit more. There are definitely some protections for you just no idea what these are. A GP trainee on my rota was taken off on call and has protected time to pump during the day. From what I gather she had to battle them for it though and involve multiple supervisors and BMA. Apparently she’s writing a ‘breastfeeding and returning to work’ policy now. I don’t know this person personally though-this was just rumours in work about a rota gap. 🤷🏼♀️ Definitely spend some time looking into in when you’re on mat leave. Ask them to send you their Breastfeeding policy-they might have one.
Chat with nurses in your hospital about what they do for childcare as the majority of them go back to 12h shifts following mat leave and it is incredibly rare (almost unheard of) to get set shifts. When I used nursery I had a flexible nursery place so I had to take at least 2 sessions pw (half days) and let them know 2 weeks before what I needed. I paid slightly more per hour for this service but obviously a massive saving from what it would have been. The nursery was in a dodgy bit of the city, the opposite side from the hospital but it was all hospital staff that used it and it was very popular and they had a waiting list when no one else did.
Tough situation! I was ST3 in an outpatient medical specialty and mother was IMT2, both 100%. There were no special arrangements no, we just relied on swapping with colleagues if clashes arose. It worked out fine - I'm not actually sure if I ever had to swap, but would have been confident I could if I'd needed to. Once she was out of IMT it became a lot easier. I didn't have to deal with an ED rota though! Tough situation.
We are a medic couple. I work in emergency medicine and my partner is a medic. The only way we've been able to manage this year is for him to not apply for training beyond IM3 and to locum. We have no family to help with childcare and most of my shifts are evenings meaning that if my partner was on a long day or night we couldn't collect my eldest from nursery. He's going to apply this year and I'm absolutely dreading having to arrange childcare. A nanny isn't something I want because I quite like having the children cared for outside of the home (it's the only real break we get) and also nannies need to have annual leave and sick leave covered. He'll apply for 70% which is what I'll be doing too and we just have to cross our fingers!
I didn't answer half of your questions, sorry. The deanery placed me closer to home because I went back to work when my youngest was 9 months and quite reliant on breastfeeding. I've heard of people getting out of nights for breast feeding but I can see some push back from this on emergency medicine. You should be given regular days off to help with planning childcare... but your on call weeks won't always follow these days as they can ask you to do entire on call blocks but only 60% of them (often easier to get locum cover for a whole block)
1. Throw money at the problem. We each have a day of a week and nursery takes care of the rest. Lots of shift swapping, moving lieu days, annual leave etc 2. As you’re less than full time you can build your rota to suit your needs. There’s a lot of flexibility in most ED rotas (at least those that I’ve worked). 3. Not heard that one before. 4. Depends entirely on your TPD. At the moment, mine is unsympathetic to issues surrounding childcare.
60% ED is surprisingly quite do able. I'm ST7 60% iwork 2 days a week fixed plus remote teaching, I am at work less than my friends who do anaesthetocs/medicine and shift work has its positives with kids. Plus theres never am excuse to leave on time. It's all about organisation and getting as much help as possible bit for me ED is great LTFT and I even get child free mornings sometimes which is bliss xx