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Re: living above practice

Nick Shackleton — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:37:50 GMT

have to say I lived above a practice many years back. Getting paid 80 quid a week all in (ie no bills) it did come with its downsides thou. Living with random ppl who you dont always get on wiv. It was a hosp so on call nurse had to stop over but some of them were cheeky to me 2can you cover so I can go out" putting up with them and their partners/pets making a mess of my home etc... the practice managers office was in my flat so even on my days off I couldnt really get away from the place. Oh well did me a turn got me thru part of my training. So just make sure its right for you I guess. At time it was right for me deffinately wouldnt do it now unless I had the place to myself and it was completely seperate from practice ie private entrance and no one else allowed access etc....

Re: living above practice

hissycat — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:00:57 GMT

saying that, my first flatmate was a bit of an oddball but she was never dangerous (except when cooking!)

Re: living above practice

hissycat — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:59:06 GMT

that must have been a horrible experience , makes me pretty angry that a practice would expect a lone female to accept a strange male staying at their place! just because they are a vet doesn't make them decent (or normal!) i've met a few 'personality disordered' male vets in my time!

Re: living above practice

Sal the 1st — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:42:37 GMT

no not every place is bad as I say there are some good places - they just arent that common. I have stayed in some nice practice accomodation. I only posted my experience so people were aware of some of the pitfalls, I had hoped if people knew about some of the potential hazards they wouldnt get caught out like I did. (especially being groped by a locum vet who was staying in my flat - not pleasant! - the guy must have been blind or desperate! )

Re: living above practice

hissycat — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:27:45 GMT

oh my, after reading that I think I was pretty naive going into it without much thought Lucky I ended up in a decent place! didn't get paid less when training - was on minimum wage anyway which I am led to believe is normal practice, when qualified I got a bit less (still more than an unqualified) but was much better off than renting privately. Still paid bills which I shared with my flatmates - both were great about paying equal shares (even though I think I spent a fortune on heating - I really feel the cold !) , but you wouldn't have a problem there with a partner (I hope!) The practice did an inventory of furniture etc. when I moved in which I checked and signed but there was nothing in there of real value anyway (we were ten mins from ikea ) Also it was completely private - the door was locked and only me/flatmate had keys and one spare locked in surgery cabinet. It would be very annoying to have to share your space so I would certainly think twice if they plan to use it for lunchbreaks etc. Must say I was sometimes drafted in to look after colleagues pets but they always returned the favour. Also I found there was one big advantage of training and living at the practice - its dead easy to find your caselogs cos you can pitch in with any emergency/surgery etc and theres often more time OOH to let a trainee do stuff. This was always my choice though - the on call nurse would still be there and I would be an extra. and the number of times we had to 'borrow' loo roll, lightbulbs, bandages (don't ask), cat food, the internet.... i'm rambling again but all in all we had a pretty good time while it lasted so it is possible!

Re: living above practice

Caro Laithwaite VN — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:27:39 GMT

See told you Sal was the one to ask

Re: living above practice

Sal the 1st — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:13:22 GMT

ok was going to hold off and do this privately but there are a few things people should know about living over the shop.

1 - if it is compulsory you live in , you will almost certainly be responsible for inmates out of hours whether it is in your contract or not. Dont know about anybody else but I found it difficult in this situation not to check inpatients anyway but mostly if you live in it is expected and usually unpaid. ( if this is the case make sure before you book any holidays that the practice has arranged adequate cover or you may find problems)

2- the practice may decide that allowing you to live in their premises means they can pay you less (I was in the position where I was the only qualified nurse in the practice but was being paid less than a non qualified because I was using the flat).

3- do you still have to pay bills, ie gas ,electric, council tax? if you dont you are receiving benefits in kind - speak to the tax man about this or risk a bloody big bill at the end of your employment. Be careful of the double whammy ie lower pay because of flat and then extra tax added on because of benefits in kind it should be one or the other but not both - tho you will still get employers that try it on. If you do receive benefits in kind the practice principle should be able to give you a monthly value for this. Discuss this before you even move in

4 - if they ask your partner to pay rent - agree to it, and negotiate - if your employment ends suddenly the fact that there has been some rent paid gives you rights as tenants not as an employee which will be much more favourable for you

5- list any thing in the flat when you move in so you cannot be accused of removing anything when you leave - keep records of any repairs etc needing to be made and when the repairs have been carried out and at whose cost

6- MAKE SURE THE PRACTICE BELOW IS ALARMED, also make sure that you are insured either through the practice or take out your own insurance. Make sure you are safe. After the last break in I refused to go downstairs and check on inpatients unless there was somebody else in the building (my nerves were shot) in consequence of this I was told that I wasnt doing the job I was employed for - ie I was in breach of contract even tho checking animals out of hours was never mentioned when I was originally employed

7- make it clear from the outset that the flat is not an overspill area for the staffroom, the office, toilet /shower etc

8 - find out in advance if the practice employs locums and if they do make sure that you are not expected to have them stay in your flat (it happened to me more than once - and having a lecherous vet stay in your flat for 2 weeks is no fun at all!)

9 - dont let people dump on you - ie leaving pets in the kennels over the weekend while they go away, leaving you to feed water and muck out.

10 - dont be too 'convenient' for them to call down to help with the 'little stitch up' that turns into major surgery

as an aside practices often have to pay less tax on the building and less to their insurance company if the building is occupied - so who is doing who the favour

loads more, contact me if you need it

but you might be lucky and get a nice flat with a decent boss - it does happen very occasionally

Re: living above practice

Sandra Taylor RVN, MBVNA — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:28:07 GMT

I am with Caro on this one... the fact they are insisting says to me they will be looking for you to be available if and when needed.

Re: living above practice

hissycat — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:32:15 GMT

I lived above the practice for four years and never had any real problems.. lived alone some of the time and had other nurses as flatmates some of the time. ended up with four of us in two flats and it was actually pretty fun cos we all got along.... sometimes it was like an episode of friends I was never asked to do more just because I lived there, I guess it depends on your employer. I would agree that it wouldn't be fair to expect you to live without your partner though especially for such a long time. Maybe they would expect him to pay rent?.. hope it all works out.

Re: living above practice

softsofa — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:29:00 GMT

Re: living above practice

Claire Cameron — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:49:18 GMT

Hiya

I used to live above the practice and my old practice used to take advantage of this by asking me to do extra shifts, pop down and help when I hadnt started yet or off work.

I also didnt feel secure knowing that if the practice got broken into (the place didnt have an alarm) I might be at risk.

Re: living above practice

Caro Laithwaite VN — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:04:27 GMT

No if you are living together then you live together. If they do not want him there then look some place else.

Furthermore l would not be happy forced to be living above the practice you are in effect a live in cheap labour if they insist on it l would be very very wary. If they said there is accom. if you want it that is different but to insist l would back way off.

I would also be VERY careful living above the practice for other reasons. Contact Sal the 1st and ask her about the pitfalls she has had major problems tax etc not of her doing l may add and luckily she had all the paperwork to back her up but be very careful.