Importance of Reference
I want to highlight the importance of reference in the NHS or let’s say generally in the UK.
Whenever you are starting a job, opening a bank account, letting property people here would want someone to be a referee for you.
->If you are opening a bank account your hospital will be your reference and they are very helpful for that.
->If you are letting a property, it depends on landlord what kind of reference they want, usually they want hospital reference, your previous landlord (if in UK) or a guarantor (If new in UK, it can be any family, friend or sometime hospital are helpful)
->If you are starting/switching jobs in the NHS they would want previous work reference and it is not a Letter of recommendation. They will ask where you work and who you want to be your reference, then they send email to them and rely on their response.
So few things here are very important.
- The person should be easily accessible for you and hospital
- You should inform that person in advance so it does not delay the process
I will share my personal experience with regards to this:
My 1st job in the NHS was non-training F1 neurosurgery. I got an offer for a F2 rotational post in medicine. I informed my educational supervisor if he is happy to be my referee and he agreed. I gave notice at my current job, landlord and waited for my new COS. Meanwhile I had another interview pending for ST1 OBGYN and I always wanted OBGYN. Without hoping they would offer me the job I gave the interview. In the job description they did not require any pre-OBGYN experience or any MRCOG. They offered me the job. I explained to them that I had accepted another job but needed to sort it out with them first. They agreed. Now my mistake was I did not discuss with my ES and declined that offer and accepted this new offer (when only less than 2 weeks were left in my current resignation). My consultant got an email for reference and he said he does not think I will be eligible for ST1. Although he was happy with me and never had any concerns. The recruitment stopped contacting me and it was a very worried situation. I discussed this with them and after discussions between consultants I was asked to accept as F2 OBGYN and I accepted and it was worked out but it was extremely stressful and caused a lot of trouble for me.