The roles and professions might vary but all Reservists are “SOLDIERS & OFFICERS FIRST” As well as invaluable experience of other cultures According to a 2002 report by business academics at Liverpool John Moores, Leeds Metropolitan and Bradford universities, the average reservist receives training in transferable skills which would normally cost an employer over £9,000 per annum. In addition, many of the TA Field Hospital units provide free partnership training for the NHS in the form of leadership and personal development weekends and open access to most clinical seminars and CPD updates for NHS professionals who are not in the TA. Reservists are usually physically fitter than most of their civilian equivalents and we certainly foster a “can-do attitude” in all of our members. It is also true that reservists are often given a much higher level of responsibility early on in their military careers than in their civilian employment.
ARMY MEDIC Magazine
The commitment is completely flexible. NHS employers provide reservists with up to two weeks’ additional paid leave and the reservist makes up the remainder of their time, approximately 13 days during selected weekends and on occasional Tuesday evenings What happens when a Reservist is called up for active service? We call this mobilisation. In the current environment it is likely that in a three-year period professionally qualified health service personnel will be mobilised. This will normally be for three months in location which will mean approximately four-and-a-half months away from the workplace. In special circumstances this can be reduced to six weeks, 10 weeks away from the workplace in total. The additional time outside of the deployed location is taken up by pre-deployment training and leave following deployment. In the case of healthcare professionals, we try to give a minimum of three months’
notice to employers prior to the mobilisation of a reservist, longer if possible. This enables the hospital to arrange for locum, agency or overtime cover which, including advertising and training costs, the MoD will fully reimburse. While the reservist is mobilised the NHS does not continue to pay them, the reservist will receive enhanced Regular Army pay at their equivalent rank and professional group rates. On very rare occasions a reservist can be mobilised with 28 days’ notice.
Contact us: 0800 389 5459 www.sabre.mod.uk 33