To think the glamorisation of the NHS isn't helpful

[YeahWhatevver]

My DH is a nurse and I'm getting really fed up with the glamorization of the NHS and Doctors and Nurses.

He's watching the TV, seeing the clapping, the endless stories of NHS saving the nation, the grit and determination of the staff, doubling down to fight off this virus and said last night how he wishes it was like that and him and his friends felt like that.

The truth couldn't be further, my DH and his colleagues are exhausted, under equipped, scared, and in their hearts of hearts don't want to be in a hospital. Who in their right mind would want to go into a virus infected ITU for hours per day and then come back to you wife and kids?

The public need to know how scared and overwhelmed these people are, not how Stacy, 21 from Newcastle has ended her nurse training early to go and join the fight and is one of the thousands of "heroes" grateful to be able to play their part.

I've already seen a marked change in DH's mood, he dreads going to a job that he used to love, I've got no idea what him and his colleagues will be like in another 8 weeks.

'Yes, let's see all those Tories who cheered when nurses were denied a payrise, hang their heads in shame and dip into their pockets to support their local hospital.'

Yes all of the names on that list should be utterly ashamed of themselves and let's hope we see a change when all of this is over. In not convinced though...

I'm*

'I imagine that most hospitals have charities attached, which you could donate to? Not everyone will be able to if they have lost their income because of the lockdown, but plenty of others will be able to do so still.'

How do you know that some of the people clapping who are also financially able to do so aren't already doing this? Not impossible to do both

I believe that all the Tories voted to deny the payrise - I imagine there was a three line whip. Even those who later jumped ship. Whether the ones with a conscience cheered I wouldn't know.

I never said that people clapping weren't supporting NHS charities. I am just pointing out that there are practical ways of offering support which people might not know about.

I didn't know myself until a couple of weeks ago until a friend sent a link to the charity set up to support our local hospitals.

It’s like emotional blackmail isn’t it? My dsis, a nurse, could possibly give up her job and be ok but she feels under huge pressure to stay and fulfill her role. She feels it would be cowardly to leave in the current situation and thinks she would be letting her team down.

I think she’s very brave but if I were her I don’t think I’d still be there.

I'm a nurse. I hate the clapping. We are really really quiet at work at the minutes we are not hero's. We are doing the job we are paid to do and no more.

Peregrina it was because we had been talking about the clapping and you said that on the back of there which made it seem like that. Its good to know that isnt what you were meaning.

As a front line nurse and currently off sick with CV, I think the clapping helps everyone morales and in a way is supportive.

However, it's important to remember: HCP have died due to poor PPE and have given thier lives to care for others. Those are the people we need to remember and ensure their is a difference made to NHS funding etc.

that^

@Langbannedforsafeguardingkids, Yy with your post they should be held accountable & people need to accept that you can’t run services or a country on a shoestring anymore because if you do then those in the frontline are dying & will continue to die, the population needs to start altering the mindset want the services then taxes will have to increase & services funded properly for the good of everyone, just look at the competence Germany & Korea have displayed during this crisis, we could have acted the same if only .....
My heart breaks for everyone who is suffering, scared or have lost loved ones, my only hope is that those responsible will be held to account at some point.

The nurses I know think the clapping is cheesy and patronising; they'd really rather have had a) decent funding and b) decent PPE. (In some cases, ANY PPE.)

The clapping thing is a cheap gesture. Once was a nice gesture. But now it seems to be every week at least. Still, it's far cheaper than funding the NHS properly in the first place. I'd like to know how many of those standing clapping on the doorstep thought getting rid of nursing bursaries was a jolly good effort. And how many harbour secret xenophobic thoughts. And how many voted for parties that have systematically run the NHS (and other public services) into the ground, and one which has suddenly written off billions of pounds of debt. I'm sure it's nothing, at all, to do with flogging the NHS to the USA if/when this is over. (Assuming there's an America left, that is.)

And I'd also like to know how many of the Happy-Clappies (yes, I know the connotations of that phrase before anyone squeaks) would work for £15 an hour (approximately, BEFORE tax) in a frontline situation. Or even just ordinary shifts, let alone COVID-19. Hypocrites, so many of them.

And don't even get me started on the Sun and the Daily Hate and their levels of vitriol and hypocrisy over the years.

Thank you to your husband and all of his colleagues.

But yes, the rainbows are a nice distraction for the kids.

I'm surprised more people aren't expressing anger that the government can find up to £2500 to give to people to stay at home and do nothing but many carers and nurses will go to work and work face to face with this virus, that they are terrified of killing them or their family, for far less.

Every carer/NHS staff should be paid double time for every hour of active front line service. The money has been found for nearly all the "stay at homers" (although I appreciate that there are gaps) - now find the money for the front line.

I cringe at the clapping. I am grateful to the NHS but I just find it awkward. I would rather donate to charity than clap and have done. I suggest for anyone whose wages haven't fallen put your money where your mouth is and make a donation - of a size that you will notice and feel - to a worthy charity of your choice. If you are grateful and able to then do more than clap.

As a carer over the past couple of years I have seen the sector suffer extensive closures and "restructuring" designed to get rid of or demote anyone on a decent wage. So we are going into this crises with short staffing and low morale. God knows what the result will be. I feel loyalty to my clients and my colleagues but to the sector as an employer - no none at all.

My Dh doesn't even earn £15 ph before tax and yet he's expected to care for 15 patients with CV19 with completely inadequate PPE. He was pretty pissed off when the funeral directors came in to collect the 5 patients who died last week and were head to toe in the sort of PPE he could only dream of. Dh thinks he could die of this. He's not in the best of health as it is and one of his colleagues on a ventilator is young and normally in excellent health. I can't tell you how angry I am about this and I've written about it in other forums but the press just aren't picking up on this. I feel the media is complicit in hiding how dreadful things are and how the true rate of death and infection is being masked. It is just scandalous.

@Etaina I’m so sorry truly I am, so awful for your Dh his colleagues & of of course you & your family, also agree wholeheartedly with the complicity of the media, they have nearly just as much to answer for as this shameful government, sending you much love.

I agree, give them PPE and decent pay, fund the service properly. THEN clapping won't feel futile.

I also wonder if all this applauding them as heroes is a way of minimising the fallout when they die of Coronavirus. Died in the line of duty type thing? Are their families going to be compensated?

Are their families going to be compensated?

How can they be? Nothing could ever compensate for losing someone you love.

@Alsohuman obviously not. I meant will there be any financial help

Public sector pensions have death in service benefits, so yes.

Some examples of media coverage of the NHS that I think falls into the kind of category that doesn't help

*some

I saw this earlier.

No work or occupation is worth dying for in this capitalist hell hole of ours. You will be a hero for 5 minutes. You will be mourned and missed by your loved ones for a lifetime. The hero narrative has always been used to to encourage less valuable bodies to joyfully self sacrifice.

This sums ups exactly how I feel about it.

I am a nurse, not an actress. I don't need any clapping or hero praise, I need some proper PPE!

Also infuriating to see streets of people who think social distancing doesn't apply when clapping .

@YeahWhatevver it's true. They're akin to the propaganda that manipulated young boys to sign up for war. Cannon fodder