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mree

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  1. I worked Christmas Eve night shift last year, I was paid standard rate until midnight, then bank holiday rate from midnight to 7.45.
  2. Apologies - tenancy was in writing, began 20th February 2008 for 6 months, then a further 12, then a further 24 which is the contract we're under at present. This expires in September. Rent is £425pcm. I am in England, the deposit is protected, the gas safety is up to date. An inventory was completed on moving in, it was amended by me before agreement.
  3. Hi all, haven't been on this board for ages, had forgotten all about it until today!!! I hope you won't mind me popping up and immediately asking for some advice! My husband and I have lived in our privately-rented house for 3 years now. Our contract's up in September this year, and we had intended to move on due to our landlord's stated intention of doing no repairs, which led to us banning the letting agent from carrying out property inspections. However, we've recently discovered that I'm 10 weeks pregnant, which has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works as far as moving house is concerned. Firstly and most importantly, we just can't afford to save enough for moving expenses, deposits, fees etc in that time and fund a baby, and secondly, I don't want to move house when I'm the size of a house! The location is also ideal, near the hospital (where I also work), near family, near town, and close to the major roads my husband uses to get to his work in another city. In the last 3 years, at our own expense, my husband and I have redecorated the living room and all 3 bedrooms, and put new carpets down in one of the spare bedrooms and on the stairs and landing. Today my husband has begun the process of sanding down and varnishing the exterior doors, and repainting all exterior paintwork. We are forbidden in the terms of our contract from doing repair work ourselves, but this is maintenance and looked so tatty it was getting embarassing. We can't redecorate the kitchen and dining room due to the awful faux-wood cladding in these rooms. Our landlord, in the last 3 years, has replaced the windows with double glazing (as several windows fell out of their frames and he had no choice); recarpeted the master bedroom (carpet so worn it was dangerous); replaced the back door frame (rotten and totally insecure); replaced the toilet after it cracked (with a different colour/style to the rest of the ancient suite, but hey ho) and had minor works done to seal the property against mice. There are many repairs need doing to the property, and the advice I'm after is which of these can I reasonably insist the landlord do, which should we offer to do ourselves (and can we ask for a contribution from the landlord), and which should we just put up with? Bathroom - ancient wallpaper discoloured, mouldy in parts (black mould, not loads and loads though, was present on moving in) and peeling from the walls. Kitchen - cupboard under sink rotten and about to disintegrate; one drawer keeps having to be reassembled due to the plastic runner/innards being so old and perished, another drawer having parted company entirely and irreparably with it's front due to the same; kitchen workbench in 2 seperate parts, not level or joined together, impossible to keep properly clean because of gaps with ill-fitting covers over them (also disintegrating and covering the contents of the cupboards below in a fine layer of chipboard). Back yard - gate is ancient, rotten, and insecure. Looks like it may fall off at any time, we hold our breath whenever the wind gets up! So........... apologies for the long-winded post!!! Can anyone who's managed to get this far offer any advice? Many, many thanks in advance! I know that to have any chance of any co-operation from the landlord we're going to have to allow the agent in to inspect the place.
  4. It says 'reasonable access' to be allowed by the tenant for inspection/repair. However, I don't think this is 'reasonable'. The landlord lives in Ireland, and I've never met him. He avoids paying for things like the plague, but won't even confirm he isn't going to do a repair (not the one in question) so we can get permission to do it ourselves if we want it done that bad!
  5. Thanks, that's exactly what I'd been thinking of doing but wanted someone else to suggest it as a 'reasonableness' check, IYKWIM!!!
  6. Hi everyone, thanks for reading, I'd like some opinions on what to do in this situation please! I've rented a house since February 2008, initially on 6 month AST, then 12 month, then 24 month. There are no issues with the deposit or anything. The letting agent has insisted on inspecting the property every 3 months, something I find very intrusive but have reluctantly allowed. The agent says this is so they can identify, and/or we can inform them of, any problems, repairs needed, etc. There have never been any issues with the way I keep the house, it's clean and tidy. My problem is that I've been reporting repairs that need doing, and pointing them out to the agent, since our first inspection in October 2008. The most important of these is the rotten back door frame, which would only need one good kick to get through the back door. The agent agrees this needs doing, especially since I've pointed out that this renders the house insecure, and quite likely would void my contents insurance should I be burgled. NONE of the repairs I've reported during inspections have been carried out. My question is (finally!) - I've received another notice of inspection for next month. I want to refuse until they carry out repairs they've already been notified of. Can I do this? What are the possible consequences?
  7. My apologies - I forget there are different levels of CRB check, as I work in healthcare where EVERYONE has to have an advanced check, so I've never come across the standard one, although I was aware of its existence!
  8. This is actualy a myth - for certain kinds of jobs, even cautions received as a child may show up on a CRB check! For example, a friend of mine recently had a job offer withdrawn because she received a caution for nicking a mascara when she was 14!
  9. He should be absolutely fine as long as he's upfront and honest about it - but would like to point out that nursing isn't a NVQ course!
  10. Just to clarify, ALL convictions, including juvenile cautions need to be declared to the university, the employer and the NMC BEFORE they get your CRB check done. While these may not (and probably won't) preclude enrolment on a course/employment/registration, not declaring something more than likely WILL. As far as getting onto a nursing course goes, although getting a job as a HCA/NA will improve your chances of getting onto a course, going down the secondment route isn't the best way in a lot of the time. This is because NHS trusts are limiting the secondments they dish out because of funding issues - plus, applications to study nursing are up because of the recession, so they'll get plenty of newly qualified applicants who they haven't had to pay to train! Where secondments are available, places will be limited and it could take a very long time to be qualified and experienced enough to beat off the competition from other HCAs/NAs. That said (I'm a 3rd year adult nursing student and bank HCA), I would still apply for a bank HCA/NA position as, on top of it looking good on your uni application, it's a great way to make money to supplement your bursary without having to commit to set hours; it gets your face known with ward sisters and matrons - so when you get to the end of your course and start applying for jobs they'll know who you are; and also it helps 'keep your hand in' between placements - you'll be amazed how much you miss the patient contact while on uni blocks!
  11. Is it any wonder universities are having problems attracting people onto nursing courses with attitudes like this? Coupled with the media bashing from the likes of the Daily Mail, it's no the wonder the NHS has a major recruitment/retention crisis looming! Nurses who trained under the 'old regime' would be vastly under-qualified for a lot of today's nursing jobs and tasks. Can I ask what this opinion is based on? Are you a health care professional yourself?
  12. Refer yourself to Occupational Health asap, ask for help with the depression and the addiction. Also see your GP if you haven't already. This will help firmly shift this situation towards a health issue rather than a disciplinary one. What is your job within the NHS, as this may have a large impact on the proceedings.
  13. Your story is distressing, but why is the first thought always to sue the NHS? Are we turning into America?
  14. Sorry, but there ARE recorded deaths from cannabis use - for example, driving while stoned, user kills self and others; user develops psychosis as a direct result of smoking cannabis (yes, this HAS been proved), kills someone; user develops lung cancer from smoking joints; user falls asleep while smoking and burns house down... I could go on. Cannabis-induced mental illness costs the NHS a fortune, as do the many other ways cannabis use affects health and causes accidents. I'm far, far from being a prude, but it does intensely irritate me when people try to pass cannabis off as entirely harmless, not hurting anyone, etc. etc. It has a great capacity for harm, and one of the main problems with it is that often it takes years for this harm to become apparent - as people don't see immediate effects, they assume it's safe!
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