Should NHS staff go ahead in queues?

[JustOneLastThing]

I have only done it once, and got some evil looks from the others queuing. It was my only day off and was knackered and needed some essentials so thought 'just this once'-might not do it again!
It sort of felt like all the clapping in the world and rainbows doesn't mean much in the real world, but I might be a bit more careful about waving my lanyard around in the future (and yes, i'm frontline ward NHS staff working on covid wards fwiw).
Any thoughts from others very welcome.

That is truly disgusting. You should feel safe at work.
Luckily for us we are normally OK. We get the odd idiot but these last weeks have been brutal.
Does this happen all the time then for u guys? I've heard a lot of stories of abuse to nhs staff before this pandemic. I was told by a nurse the other morning she was spat on and called a disease spreader. I wish I could've hugged her but social distancing prevented me from doing so.

Oh god yeah all the time. We have panic buttons installed that alert security immediately now. We have to hand feedback cards out to patients and some of the things they write on there is horrendous, racist, sexist abuse. But the majority of patients are lovely tho so that keeps us going.

Tonz I so wish you were my manager. My one really does not care. Talking more about my line manager then store manager who is great but. We dont get any praise at all just left to our own devices. Infact one of the staff members told a older lady to keep to social distance and the customer made a complaint against her. Because the customer made a complaint her manager had to have a word with her about it. I mean wtf

I think that's shocking u have to have panic alarms. I didn't know that. Yes the nice ones make your day. We had an older lady come in and hand the staff hand made candles last week. Was a lovely gesture and really cheered up a checkout girl who was asked if she was as thick as she was ugly just 5 minutes before. Could've knocked that arsehole out let me tell u.
*@spiritEssence * Your manager sounds like an idiot. They have a duty of care to u and your colleagues and should really appreciate the job u do. Without our workers the stores are nothing. U make his bonus each year as well.
I'm proud of each and every one of my staff for what they endure right now and keep going. I need them and I make sure they know it. It's just so hard when i walk into the toilet and hear one of my girls crying and I can't get close enough to comfort her. Your boss needs you more than u need him

Tonz you sound great as a manager. I'm afraid this has made me realise I'm changing jobs into a different field. Have applied and just waiting to see if I can have a interview.

When I started looking at retail as a career instead of a job and worked my way up my store manager took me under his wing. He told me if I am good to my staff il get good results from them and it's so true. It helps I worked my way up and was one of them when I started so I know the pressures they face and can understand. I've never had to deal with the absolute bellends they have to deal with right now either and I'm glad. I wasn't as tough then as i am now and don't think I would have coped and would have left. That is why I'm impressed with my team. They just keep going when I would have thrown in the towel

Thank you @Tonz, it’s much appreciated

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed I do not consider PPE to be a perk. The PPE was in response to another comment which is helpfully at the top of my post. My response was to someone who pointing out that most frontline key workers now have PPE and listed a number of health and care roles. My point was, and still is, there are a number of frontline key worker roles that do not have PPE and aren’t being campaigned for either.

The perks I referred to are the free coffees, free food, extra discounts. I’m not begrudging any NHS staff these, whether they are frontline NHS or background NHS as I pointed out in my earlier post. My point is that other frontline key workers are not getting the same recognition as the NHS. I believe that a number of other frontline key workers are working equally as hard as the NHS but without the recognition or the free coffees. I’m sure your staff would prefer the overtime in their pay, most people would. However, that isn’t going to happen but it’s not happening for other frontline staff either.

By the way, I don’t work in any of those industries that I’ve mentioned. So this isn’t about me wanting something because someone else has it. In my earlier comment I’ve actually mentioned a whole host of people who should be entitled to queue jump and I’m not in any of those categories. I am simply saying that this particular perk isn’t fair to the other frontline key workers who are doing fantastic jobs too.

I get what you mean @CakeAndGin In an ideal world there should be perks for all key workers but I don't begrudge NHS for theirs. I may need them to save mine, my families, friends, neighbours and staff lives during this pandemic. Tesco has given staff a 10% bonus and 50% off clothing and a bigger discount on their clubcards. I also bring in trolleys so they don't have to queue after their shifts. It's not much but it helps.

I want a job in tescos😀 that sounds better than a free coffee any day

The perks I referred to are the free coffees, free food, extra discounts

I haven’t had any freebies so don’t believe everything you read online!

Oh free coffee and meals oh lucky for them the meals were delivered as a response to people seeing the news reports from icu - not for the rest of us. And I personally haven’t heard anyone claiming it’s unfair on others quite the opposite we are in awe of their dedication.

I’ve not received any freebies either (missed out on my dominos pizza) and don’t begrudge anyone that has

Of course it was highlighted it was a utter disgrace that we didn’t have adequate PPE while dealing with covid it’s the national health service! Of course that will be headline news as it’s the NHS that will be providing most of the care. Covid hit care homes later (and the private companies let them down that is also a disgrace)

And as for our discounts it’s absolutely minimal I don’t bother comparing anymore. More often a marketing gimmick. I second don’t believe all you read or hear

Tonz we always wear a personal alarm (i have set it off accidentally more that I have had to use it and yes I get into trouble for that) it’s good and vigilant team work that allows us not to get to that stage where we need to. On the acute wards or units it will be used more regularly where patients are often still very unwell of course not all will be aggressive often it’s through fear (some are just very aggressive)

Oh my god Enthusiasm I couldn't imagine working in a place where I had to wear a personal alarm. To protect urself from patients u are helping. The more I hear about Nhs the more grateful I am to the staff.
Our problems with abuse only really started with this pandemic and will most likely end with it but to have to wear a personal alarm this must be an everyday thing for u guys.
I honestly had no idea nhs staff were treated as badly. I knew there was some shit threw nurses waybut everything I've been hearing is a whole other level

It’s calmer than it sounds. Who I work with are close to the end of their time under section so nothing like the acute wards.

And yes I did get a bit of a telling off for letting it off accidentally because everyone is on sudden high alert I was quickly forgiven

Everyone is getting tetchy now, bored, lack of knowing what’s happening next, and for many concerns over loss of wage, I’m thankful that I do not have to worry about that. Any verbal abuse can be frightening I don’t doubt you have had to deal with this and you go into the flight or fright response even if you know you are safe your mind and body takes over (it’s quite incredible how this works)

I had a customer service boy accidently press the panic button. Clueless until the police turned up. Gave us all a good laugh though.
I have one 17 year old girl on checkouts who is so funny. Man shouting in her face when we had the 3 per customer limit. She just looked him in the eye and said "Are you finished sir" God I love that girl.

I had a customer service boy accidently press the panic button. Clueless until the police turned up

Speaking of the police, there’s currently a row on twitter after the BBC made their “keyworker” VE day katherine jenkins video and left out the police completely.

It’s very angels and demons. One emergency service can do no wrong, the other is being spat on (literally)...

Mmm wonder if that was deliberate quite a lot of anti police feeling at the moment. No reporting of the abuse they have to encounter

glad the police were amused

The police round here have a good sense of humour. I'm glad of them they are called out to help us a lot right now.
I can't imagine it would be easy to be a police officer either the abuse they must get. Why are people so horrible to services we need

Sorry but there's a difference between serving people in a supermarket and having to be close up to patients coughing and spluttering, pulling off high flow oxygen masks because they are confused ,dealing with bodily fluids, assisting with intubations etc I'm not minimising what other keyworkers are doing - they work equally hard but frontline nhs workers -if not wearing sufficient ppe- are at a massive risk.
As far as perks are concerned in 30 years I've never had a single perk because I work for the nhs - unless you class finishing work late or missing breaks or working christmas. Why begrudge us something so minor ?

I think everyone understands that @Bertoldbrecht
I'm a frontline nurse myself and don't feel anyone is disputing that.
I however have sufficient PPE as do my colleagues where I work so don't feel as at risk as other keyworkers. Have you seen the rate of bus drivers deaths who have nothing?

We are talking about abuse right now and supermarket staff are just as much in the firing line as we are

Also have u seen the graph of how far covid spreads with a single cough in a supermarket..over 3 aisles if I remember correctly

Well if there's a war in the future, would you be happy for soldiers to jump the queue? Because their job protects you, doesn't it.

Not disputing it and I don’t begrudge others key workers being able to go to the front of the queue either. I just think it’s uncharitable and a bit mean spirited to moan. When it comes down to it, it was a knee jerk reaction on the part of the supermarkets to deal with the stupid panic buying at the start of the crisis. Maybe it’s had its day now as they are much better stocked ? I never really used it anyway as only go shopping on my days off but certainly if you’ve just finished a night shift it would be a boon.

It was actually given to nhs staff due to the long shifts they are doing and the time frame they have to do their shopping nothing to do with panic buyers.
We didnt prioritise NHS because they need food more than anyone else we allow them to the front because they are working shifts and some don't have much time to shop never mind queue for it