Hi Spacehopper!
Lots of people are commuting, I think there are only about 10 people living in Luton area actually lol!!
Most people are finding the commute OK although I think a lot of us have to have a quick sleep in the car somewhere halfway home after the night return sector!
We are not in a pattern for days off yet and the amount of days off really varies. We do some back to backs so you land at 0710 then back in the next day but I think you usually get 2 or 3 days off afterwards (shouldn't say it cos I'll end up with a month of them, but I haven't done any yet so can't confirm!). Can vary from 1 day to 3 days off, I have usually had at least 2.
Couple of standbys a week roughly, from 0600 to 1000 and callout is 90 minutes so that is the only snag with commuting, I think some people stay down in the Luton area for standbys and some get up and get ready and wait for the phone to ring then go back to bed when it doesn't!! People also arrange b&b or stay with friends between back to backs aswell.
At the moment the rosters are flexible as we are still getting established and seeing how things work but rostering are good and give you plenty of notice of changes, and most of the time they will let you know of changes asap rather than call you on a standby- most of us have given consent to be contacted outside of standby/duty time to give us extra warning!
Basically if you don't mind commuting, it's do-able, and it's worth it!
Hope that helps!
Sorry, just noticed that was addressed to KiwiLad,
didn't mean to step on your toes!!
