Hi and thank you all so much for your helpful advice, I feel overwhelmed with your advice but more informed and able to stand up for myself now I have started to get over the shock that there isn't going to be job for me. I really thought there would be a post identified by the time I got back to work as they had 6 months to find something. My job disappearing had nothing to do with my knee probs - my team of 40 became at risk as the hospital and small community service was closed or redesigned as they called it. I managed to ensure that all my staff were redeployed within a short time frame and I also decommissioned the building. I was then given short term jobs to do while they were looking for a job for me. There are very few posts at my grade anyway and none at the next grade down became available either. In the meantime I started having knee ops - 4 ops in 9 months and to and froed from work. That was until I had both knees replaced 6 weeks apart which meant I was off for the last 6 months . I saw OH before returning and they do consider that I satisfy conditions of Equality Act and have some limitations. However they also expect me to recover by end of this year although I may have permanent problems with kneeling and crouching. I have an exemplary work record (quote from my p-file!) and have always believed I was well thought of but there have been so many changes that I don't think that counts for anything anymore. I didn't get the impression that they would be dismissing me under ill-health at the next meeting but that they do want to pursue redundancy if no jobs at all become identified by then. They didn't seem to think any jobs were in the pipeline at all. So I am left still thinking that they plan to make me redundant in July rather than dismissing me if there are no jobs at all available by then, regardless of my ill-health capability. I don't like either option and want to stay at work but still can't weigh up if I should argue for ill-health in order to apply for my pension. It's all so confusing and overwhelming and my job has been my life for 26 years the implications of which I can't even begin to think about yet. On the positive side my f-in-law who is 91 and has advanced dementia (and lives with me) is sitting next to me watching the golf at Wentworth and thinks he's in the competition! He needs more looking after than ever now and became very unwell when i was off sick and he was in respite so maybe losing my job is divine intervention and will give me the time to look after him. Think I need to revisit OH, speak to the union and ask HR for some clarification about the agenda for the meeting in July Thanks again for your support Chi

Thanks HB Havn't heard of that and will try and find out about it. Either way it looks like the Trust wants to make a decision about my contract in 5 weeks time so I need to consider the diff poss outcomes and try and work out if I can have any control of which way it will go and if HR will be fair. I'm finding the whole thing very upsetting so need to stay clear, informed and as focused as I can Thank you to all of you for your helpful comments and info Chi

Hi and thanks for your reply. I'm still under the old rules for the pension scheme and didn't sign up for the 2008 change My knee problems are a result of OA and being very tall! - it is wear and tear and not related to a work injury. I'm not in a position to do direct care due to kneeling etc but if there was a low risk post involved in governance or project work or even some of the Team Manager jobs I could do them. My substantive post no longer exists so that leaves with a contract but no place in anyones budget. I doubt if it would be agreed that I am unable to work anywhere certainly at this stage as I am still in recovery but the decision to unload me is being made in a few weeks. I will see my consultant in a month and could revisit OH for a further opinion. Wishing you all the best for your wife's pension application and thanks for the links Chi

Hi and thanks so much for your reply and helpful advice. I will contact the union again and following further consideration I think I should find out about IHR and whether I would be felt eligible as I have to say I am concerned about being dismissed and then being considered in-eligible by pensions dept. I would be interested in knowing how the pensions dept make their decision and how likely it is that IHR would be agreed. I'm nearly 46 and have been continuously employed by the same organisation since 1985. I have Mental Health Officer status and planned on retiring at 55. My substantive post disappeared and I have been "at risk" for 18 months covering temp roles or being off sick following knee ops. My latest period of sickness absence was 6 months but I was well into half pay as had 4 ops in 12 months. Mental Health roles at my grade generally have a risk of violence and aggression attached to them and I am unable to undertake a role in an acute setting with clinical contact which narrows the field somewhat. There are no available roles at all at the moment, but a clinical role would be felt to be unsuitable currently as I have probs crounching and kneeling and probably always will - OH and my consultant have both said this. OH have suggested work trials if posts are identified but didn't mention IHR. It never occurred to me that Redundancy would be a cheaper option for the Trust. I've always had good faith in the organisation and the people who work within it and have been a manager for many years. I felt very much at the review meeting that redundancy would be the outcome mid july if no jobs are available by then, regardless of my ill-health capability. I remain shocked and stunned as when I returned from work I had hoped for at least temporary redeployment not a discussion about redundancy. It looks like I could apply for IHR tier2 but once I go down that road I could lose any chance of redundancy and not have my pension agreed which would be a far worse outcome. I had hoped I could manage this myself but now realise that I will need some representation. Thank you again for your help and prompting me to wake up to the bigger picture. Chi

Hi Lex my partner's father lives with us - he is 91 and has vascular dementia and finds life very confusing. We've found ways to reduce his worries and generally he's happy and doesn't get anxious very often. He has become changeable when he's gone into respite care because all of a sudden the world has become even less familiar to him and it's frightening. Hopefully your mum will settle in and you and your dad will relax once she seems happy and well looked after. There's a great book I read that really helped me understand the illness. It's written from a carers perspective and I've found it invaluable. It's called Contented Dementia by Oliver James and is available quite cheaply on Amazon. It would also be worth looking at the CQC's website and making sure you are happy that your mum is in the best and most suitable nursing home to meet her needs and maintain her personhood. I do hope everything works out for you all.

Hi I'm new here but am looking for some advice and hope someone might be able to help. I'm a Band 7 Mental Health nurse and have been employed by the same Trust for 26yrs.I have been at risk of redundancy since Dec 2009 due to service redesign. The hospital I managed for over 10 yrs closed and since then I've been given temporary roles whilst awaiting redeployment. In the meantime I have also been off sick for the last 6 months after undergoing double knee replacement surgery. I was hoping that I would be redeployed into a more substantive role when I returned to work a couple of weeks ago. I had a capability review meeting last week and was told that there are no jobs available and if they are unable to find me a suitable post before my next review meeting in 6 weeks time then they will start the process of redundancy. They have also said that if they find me a job that I am unable to undertake due to my recovering knees and it is therefore deemed unsuitable I may be dismissed under ill-health capability.There are several roles that would be unsuitable due to my current physical limitations. It is looking very unlikely that a suitable position or any position at all will be found. This seems to be happening to several other people . I have tried to make contact with my union on several occasions without success and feel shocked that this is happening to me. I do not wish to be made redundant or dismissed due to capability but there does not seem to be anything I can do about it. I would appreciate some advice as to whether it would be in my best interest to pursue ill-health capability as an exit plan and then ill-health retirement rather than redundancy. I'm not sure how far I would get with an ill-health retirement application and not sure of the process. I would also appreciate some advice around the redundancy process in terms of how long it takes and how much notice I would get/would have to work out I've arranged to take outstanding leave in 2 weeks time that will enable me to stay off until the meeting as am finding it difficult to stay positive at work. Thanks in advance for any comments /advice