{"id":14190,"date":"2017-12-18T13:05:50","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T13:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14190"},"modified":"2017-12-18T13:05:50","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T13:05:50","slug":"accidents-dont-stop-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14190","title":{"rendered":"‘Accidents don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop for Christmas’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than a million workers in the UK each year must forgo time with their families over the holiday season because of work. In our series on working over Christmas, UNITElive<\/em> pays tribute to members who, thanks to their sacrifices, make our holidays safe for the rest of us to enjoy.<\/p>\n

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In Part 1 of our series, we speak to Ian Evans<\/strong>, a biomedical scientist who does blood tests among other duties.<\/p>\n

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Ian has been working for the NHS since 1996 and typically works over Christmas.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe provide a 24\/7 service and this of course includes the holidays,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt can be a stressful job. The hours are long and when we work overnight there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of lone working.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOn a typical day the lab is manned by about 300 people but overnight it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s down to a skeleton crew of three or so people so you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take breaks \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no time to wind down.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Biomedical scientists play a critical role \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in fact, the health service would not be able to function without them, as 80 per cent of health care decisions are based on information gleaned from lab tests.<\/p>\n

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This can add to the stress of the job, Ian explains.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an enormous sense of responsibility,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he says. But this is also what makes the job rewarding.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very mentally stimulating job and you know what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing makes a real difference,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ian notes. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen patients are given a physical exam they may by all appearances seem well on the outside but there may be something terribly wrong on the inside. This is what we do essentially \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we identify what people can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Ian has grown children and says he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really celebrate Christmas per se and so finds it easier than many of his colleagues to work over the holiday period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Not ideal for families\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe situation isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ideal for many families whose family members have to work over Christmas. No one wants be away from their family and friends, especially during the holidays, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a real sense of duty we have to patients.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over Christmas, the work he does is largely the same as on other days but he says it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often quieter. However, accidents and emergencies happen throughout the year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop for Christmas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when the pressure ramps up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have staff who are literally in the middle of their Christmas dinner and will drop everything if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an emergency to come in,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Ian explains.<\/p>\n

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He believes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important for those who do enjoy time with their families during the holiday season to recognise the hard work of the just over one million people who must work over Christmas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhether its workers in the public or private sector, they make huge sacrifices to ensure other people can enjoy Christmas at home safely. Sometimes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not until people actually need to use a service at Christmas that they realise just how dedicated these workers are \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in this instances they are truly grateful.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut even if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have an emergency or need to use a service over Christmas, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important we reflect and give thanks to each and every one of these workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ian sends a message of thanks and solidarity to all Unite members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  More than a million workers in the UK each year must forgo time with their families over the holiday season because of work. In our series on working over Christmas, UNITElive pays tribute to members who, thanks to their sacrifices, make our holidays safe for the rest of us to enjoy.   In Part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[648,29],"wps_subtitle":"Biomedical scientist Ian Evans on working over the Christmas break","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14191,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14190\/revisions\/14191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}