Anyone work for BMI healthcare? General career advice too, please?

My gut reaction is that there's a certain sales element in the jobs. If you don't have sales experience (and if I'm right, obviously) is this something you'd be happy with ? If you've got the medical background, and are happy with the admin side - then go for it.

Call centre/ telephone work that I've done before can be pretty constant (once you've hung up the phone, it rings again) and people will either give you the most basic information (I've had an accident) or way too much (I've had an accident when I slipped over in the street, and this very nice man helped me up and made sure I had a cup of tea before I went home. It was only when I got home and was putting the washing in the machine that I realised ....) I wouldn't be surprised if you've experienced similar if you've worked on a hospital ward.

Don't know if any of this helps; just my 2p worth. If you're not sure, there's nothing to stop you ringing the company and asking a few more questions about the job(s).

My sister is a pharmacist for them and only ever sings their praises!

I saw your post and felt compelled to save you from making the biggest mistake of your life. I worked in the shared service centre in Cheadle for five months and wish I'd never heard the name!

Seriously, it's the Fawlty Towers of the healthcare industry. The software they use is two decades behind the times and they insist on you following the most backwards policies. Policies which effectively tie you in knots while achieving nothing for the company or the employees. They have a 'this is the way it's always been done' attitude and run for the hills screaming if you dare to suggest dragging the business into the 21st century.

When we moved into the shared service centre in April 2008 all the suppliers were told to send all outstanding invoices directly to us, only we couldn't issue payment without them first being authorised by someone based in one of the 56 hospital sites across the country. That 'someone' could have been anyone in many cases, and even the right people didn't necessarily want to dirty their hands with checking and authorising them.

We were deluged with insane amounts of paperwork which we had no chance of getting to the bottom of before the legal threats starting coming thick and fast. Suppliers withdrew their services and stopped delivering supplies and we got it in the neck from all angles because the hospitals couldn't get their hands on everything from coffee for the vending machines right up to critical life support equipment.

For your sake, if you applied, I hope you didn't get the job.