@Kitty369 

Last reply

Kitty369

NHS Ill health retirement experiences

Wanted someone to talk to who has been through Ill Health retirement preferably with NHS Contract. I really want some help thinking this through and working out what to do, I am really struggling at work and don’t feel capable of doing it, I feel constantly guilty and like I am letting my team down. I feel stressed and anxious about it all which is stopping me from sleeping. I am exploring Ill health retirement. I think I might need to acknowledge I can’t do this job with the health needs I have, then focus on doing something else that I CAN DO, my self esteem is crumbling .... any NHS ex employers taken ill health retirement ? I need advise
@Stumbler

@kitty369 . the best people to advise you on your options is your Union. Are you a member of Unite? And, do try and de-stress yourself. This is a situation NOT of your making. You are one of us unfortunate ones.

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@cameron

I know nothing about your specific query but looking at your profile see that you are newly diagnosed. You sound very sure that your health needs are incompatible with your work, but this is just to say that things may change. Before you take steps, it might be worth really talking it through (by that I mean the medical side of things) with your neuro team. Is it the case that you're worsening? If so, are you on the right drug? Who is looking after your symptom needs? Might things improve if you took official sick leave for a recovery period? My personal experience is that the two years following diagnosis saw the most ups and downs in my condition. It was a rollercoaster, no doubt exacerbated by the stress and uncertainty of it all. It started to improve when 'reasonable adjustments' were made by my employer. A shift in responsibilities (they became more paper-based) and an office move made enough of a difference to allow me to carry on. In that time, I attended a lot of clinics for various MS symptoms and those helped stabilise me. I don't know your situation, but I think you should be accessing help and support, not going it alone. xx

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