Red Tape For Bloody Bandages

There is a ridiculous amount of red tape and “procedure” involved in doing anything when working in a government department. This is particularly so in healthcare. Everything you can think of needs risk assessment, safe work practise, incident reports, etc.

The current policy in our service is that any time the first aid box is accessed, a lengthy incident report needs to be written and submitted to the manager, further risk assessments made, and documents written up detailing how the incident can be prevented from occurring again.

This is fair enough when the team can use their own common sense and identify where there is an actual need for these documents to be made. But the vast, vast majority of the time the worker only needs a bandaid for their finger to replace one from where they slipped making dinner at home last night.

And because the first aid box has to be checked weekly, the contents must all be accounted for. 

I cracked the other day when a worker needed a bandaid for a blister on their heel from a new pair of shoes. The next morning, I put a giant box of bandaids I bought myself next to the first aid box. Problem solved.

I would like to occasionally see a patient and improve our services to the public rather than writing silly documents all day.