Has anyone out there in EBME land had any sucess with a JAQ in band 8 job profiles? I'm still paid as an MTO 5+3 and have been asked to do a jaq for my position (and then my lads below me)
Cheers

We have one chap in our department, who got an 8a - His Job title is Principal anaesthetic technician and quality manager.

He got his banding by submitting his JAQ. So there you go - and not me unfortunately...

A4C seems to be a lottery. I visit many different Hospitals and I have seen technicians as high as Band 8, and managers as low as Band 6. Something is not right.

Yeah ... those managers are being paid way too much!

Paying people more for an extra piece of paper? not my style I prefer experience over qualifications

I am sure you have earnt a fair whack in the middle east Geoff
way above a band 8.

I agree about bits of paper - experience carries more weight.

Looks like you haven't been paying attention there, John. As I've said many times before, I've never been on "big bucks" (ask Neil).

And anyway, what we were doing out there was real work, not playing at it.

Unfortunately, experience doesn't seem to count for much in the UK biomed scene. Not in my, er, experience anyway. People that I have met seemed far more interested in risk assessments, CRB checks and all the rest of that BS ... oh, and whether you wore a tie (most important, apparently). The whole thing's a joke.

I have relaxed the 'tie wearing' for my techs.

Got to keep chipping away!

Next thing we want is an NHS technical training school, with courses that people need to attend at each level of promotion. Next we'll have recognised national standards for equipment PM, plus target "guidelines" for (percentage) completion. Then we (and when I say we I mean the tax-payers) want regular technical audits by an independent authority to ensure that proper standards are being met.

Ah AFC - The new nationally agreed profiles assessed at a local level by a group who did not understand the fundamentals of a biomeds job. As long as you got the correct buzz words and phrases you got whatever banding they saw fit (another tick in the box - another point on the payscale). I thought it was supposed to harmonise the pay scales

Our guys Got a mix of 5's, 6's, 7's and the one 8a.
Of two local hospitals - one lot came out band 4's across the team and at another they all got band 7's.

I wonder what would happen if run the British armed forces in this manner

On the tie issue - I used to wear one, but decided it was a bad idea on the infection control front.