Clapping for the NHS

[Moomin8]

This makes me cringe. The U.K. shrugged its shoulders and voted for a government which they knew decimated the NHS a few months ago.

And now people are standing on their doorsteps clapping. I think it's beyond insulting. I know we didn't all vote conservative but how patronising when NHS staff are putting their lives at risk.

I think this 'clap for the NHS' is a nonsense. NHS staff do a great job, yes, but as far as I know, none are being held at gunpoint to do so. They all know what they are signing up for.

NHS staff are in many cases paid very well and I think it is unfair that other key workers who are paid a pittance receive no recognition.

I agree. Just vote for investment in the NHS.

Seeing the Tory voting Brexiteers coming out to fucking clap just makes me cringe.

I didn't clap last week because I didn't know- thought the neighbours were having a party and were breaking social distancing rules!

Didn't clap today as my sewing machine was/is loud, was in the zone and lost track of time- been sewing masks for local surgeries and care homes.

Hope to clap next week if I remember, but I won't feel bad or guilty if I don't as I'll be trying my best to churn out as many masks as I can.

My dad is a retired doctor and he didn't understand the clapping.

Each to their own :)

There is nothing worse than seeing an NHS worker dismissing someone because they vote Tory. It’s pathetic and juvenile and shows they aren’t all that caring. If the Tories were dismantling it, we’d be paying for it with insurance and we’d paying for GP appointments. Guess what.. they aren’t and they never will because despite what Labour have brainwashed you with, they know this themselves but they have nothing else to go with at election time.

Grow the fuck up

Uhh the working class Tory voters are the biggest problem often. They are the reason the Tories get into government. They think voting Tory is aspirational. And fail to see that they do f* all to help social mobility.

I would add patronising to the list OP.

@Pulppixies oh ok, we should all be grateful we aren't paying for GP appointments yet. My mistake clearly

@sleepingpup you seem to think this is a personal attack on you.

If anything it is the government I despise. They have encouraged this trite crap.

Drives me insane. It’s fuck all use, just people virtue signalling. The NHS staff would much rather have proper PPE and a cash bonus.

The NHS workers on this thread generally are saying they should have a pay rise. Why don't you listen to them?

Dont fucking clap then and dont tar all people with the same brush, this villifying all tory voters as evil is beyond a fucking joke now. I didnt vote labour because of my own reasons i despise them and feel they are evil. I also think staunch labour voters who keep asking where the military are, are hypocritical cunts who supported an illegal war under blair and support corbyns desire to cut the military, yet now want the military to risk their own lives to be on the streets when it suits. But ya know, swings and roundabouts. Its a harmless national display of gratitude nothing else.

Can someone support a government ideal but also want to support individual people who are doing so much for the country?

Surely they can want to privatise the NHS but still be wholesomely grateful for all the NHS staff do?

It's not one or the other.

(Never voted Tory, just saying)

I'm a nurse. I liked the clapping, but my area is very, very Conservative and I was very aware the people clapping voted for a party that fiercely opposed a wage increase for nurses, and started a contract that runs junior doctors into the ground. Thats to say nothing about selling off services or chronic underfunding.

It's nice to clap, but let's not pretend. A few months ago all I heard was how bloated and poorly managed the NHS was.

i don't feel like this is personal attack on me but I do feel like it's an attack on all the decent people in my community who were standing and clapping.

As you said it they are foolish, you are calling out their hypocrisy, they are gullible ( obvs sucked in by the gov) They are doing nothing useful ( they are)

So patronising.

My dad is a retired doctor and he didn't understand the clapping

Mine is too and equally Nonplussed 🤣

Look @sleepingpup I would clap too if I thought it would do the slightest bit of good but on its own it won't.

And evidently the NHS staff on this thread agree.

The NHS workers on this thread generally are saying they should have a pay rise. Why don't you listen to them?

Totally agree.
Another thing that is not mutually exclusive with being thanked by clapping.

@Moomin8

As a gesture of thanks it does do "the slightest bit of good" - that's where we fundamentally disagree.

I do wish some people weren't so miserable.

Many people feel helpless, trapped and stressed - what is wrong if this makes people feel they are making a positive gesture to those who are risking their lives?

It's also a way we are all joining together.

It's almost like some vi people dislike others feeling any level of positivity.

I clapped. I clapped last week.

Am I virtue signalling? I don't think so - I've done things to help others I've not even known the last few weeks and told no one.

I do actually just want to clap to say, 'thanks for stepping up - I couldn't'

Clapping shows appreciation. Clapping makes people feel good. It doesn't really have any other purpose so not sure what else you think the power of clapping is capable of.

Yeah the first week was nice but I don’t like every week. We are all thankful for our NHS staff but I’d rather respect them by following the rules and keeping safe, not some weird overblown ‘who can shout loudest’ display. It will Peter out, but my feelings towards those people won’t.

I didn't do it last week, nor tonight. I'm not particularly bothered if people want to do it but I think every week is going to get quite tedious quite quickly. There are a lot of people working their arses off who don't and won't get any recognition but doctors, nurses and carers are all right up there doing the work we'd all be terrified to do. I hope some of them do appreciate it and do take comfort from the public's support but I think a lot of them would rather they were just given the correct equipment to do their jobs safely. I'm afraid I can't get worked up about it, if it makes people feel better and community spirited,let them do it.

On my local Facegroup page there does seem to be some odd competition between residents - "great turnout on Smith Street tonight, well done everyone". Weird backslapping stuff.

Gosh this thread is very very depressing.

I've been frontline NHS all week and what we are facing is so terrible, so unexpected, so NOT what we're trained for, so very distressing and exhausting. And no we did not "sign up to this" in the same way as none of you signed up to self-isolation or social distancing or your kids being home-schooled or being made redundant or any of the really really appalling stuff we all recognise so many of us are going through.

And of course ALL keyworkers should be appreciated just as much. OF COURSE all of us - and all NHS workers too - recognise what sacrifices all key workers, and in fact, all of us, are making at the moment.

The difference (doesn't need a clap, but to be honest, for me and for so many of my colleagues, it's been great to feel that what we're doing is appreciated) is that the frontline NHS staff are placing themselves directly in the face of, not only likely infection for themselves and their families, but also the most difficult clinical situations, the most traumatic management decisions, stuff we never dreamed we'd have to do, having to try to manage all the other patients we care for on top of this sudden crisis. And it's truly shattering.

So make it political if you need to. It doesn't feel like that to most of us.

If the same people keep clapping one year from this, demanding better conditions and fairer pay for all key workers, that would be a surprise.