THE CLAP. Let's settle this. If you work for the NHS, what do you think of it?

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

YABU = I'd rather it stopped now.

YANBU = I still like it.

Yes it's yet another Clap thread, sorry. But all the other threads seem to be populated mostly by people (me included) second-guessing what NHS workers actually want.

Non-NHS workers: if you can, please sit on your hands for this thread. No sneaky voting just because you have strong views on the matter.

DD is NHS, the first few weeks made her cry, she was so touched. Even now she is grateful that it has brought together her neighbourhood community in London, where people weren't on nodding terms before. Now they all know each other, names and phone numbers and will make friends from it. Someone had a Tesco delivery booked and did shopping for others in their block. Something good came out of it.

Nuffalready I agree about the sophistication and specialisation of what nurses do today.

It's remarkable. I don't think you should shirk the particular praise though. Whilst I acknowledge, with respect, all essential workers who have gone on throughout this at risk to themselves, it is the nurses and health care assistants, junior doctors, who are holding the hand of the dying when they would otherwise be alone, they are used to dealing with death, but not on this scale and every shift, whilst losing team members at the same time and fearing for their own health. I think there will be a lot of PTSD after all this.

I've never been keen on it and will be happy when it stops. I'm just waiting for how the pay freeze heading our way is going to be justified.

It’s not actually hurting anyone. People do it because they don’t know why else to do. All good to say “pay a decent wage”. The public can’t actually do that, shall we start a petition and tell the government what it knows already?

The rage I feel when I see the very politicians who stood up and clapped when nurses pay increase...
This again? That was a completely meaningless amendment put on to an irrelevant bill purely to create a headline. It's like having a bill on road building regulations or something and the opposition putting an amendment forward to ban lawn mowing on Thursdays.

Answered for my husband who is nhs. He wants it to stop.

I’m sick of any old person who works for the NHS skipping qs.

I think the nhs needs massive reform and now it’ll never ever happen.

The cul de sac we live in all do it, the kids all love it and it's used as an excuse for a quick chat and a wave to each other. My daughter is a nurse and doesn't come out to join in. She arrived home from work just as the clapping started a few weeks back and she was mortified when all the neighbours cheered up. She doesn't like a fuss.

The first week was great, ok by second then after that it's dying a death although I wish it would stop as neighbours seem to think it's acceptable to play "we are the champions" via a speaker and bang on saucepans at 8pm and as it's warmer the kids are trying to sleep and the windows are open

NHS staff need PPE, fair pay and safety while they are at work. They do not need clapping 👏

@66redballons well, it's not physically hurting anyone. There are many, many posts on here explaining why it's problematic - and sometimes damaging - in other ways. Also many posts on other threads. 'It's not physically hurting anyone' isn't a good enough reason for continuing a practice that the large majority of people are utterly fed up with (including the people it's supposed to be benefiting!)

For those not voting - now at 523 votes, still 93% YABU.

It’s actually been a relief for me to see I’m not the only one who wishes it would stop! I felt like such a Grinch

I stopped 2 weeks ago. Nothing has changed. No-one has persecuted me. I think it will dwindle rather than stop suddenly. It will be shorter and people will scuttle back inside as soon as they politely can until one week we'll suddenly realise it didn't happen and breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Nearly 30 years in frontline nhs. Wish it would stop. As others have said, it was nice at first but tbh I'm a bit sick of the whole melodrama now. Some of my much younger colleagues are revelling in it and love the attention, our whatsapp work group that's supposed to be for offduty is full of videos of patients leaving icu and clapping staff, photos of their children making rainbows, loads of 'aw hun, beautiful lady', it's just turned into self congratulatory emotional mush. I know I sound like a miserable so and so but I just want things to get back to normal.

Two things ruined it from my point of view. 'Clap for Boris'

Sky News. The build up every week they show meant people coming out with more and more extreme things. The instruments, costumes, singing. It it literally was a minutes clapping like the first week, I think it would still have meant what it did at the start.

Looks like Dominic Cummings has just nudged it up to 94% YABU.

Work for the NHS and think it should stop now.
It's just getting silly in places.
Someone here had bells playing out from huge speakers.
Hope they officially say on week 10 that that's the last one.
Hate the hypocrisy of the Tories clapping who have ran the NHS into the ground.
Gives me serious rage.

I heard from my friend that in Southampton they sound the bells and horns on the boats in the harbour, as well as car horns, saucepans etc. Blimey.

I haven't voted but i'm not surprised at the result. Eldest DD is NHS. She couldn't care less either way. She lives with us. She eyerolls about it if asked.

Our village is mainly split between those who did it for the first week and then stopped, and those who have made a bloody great thing out of it week after week, filming themselves doing it, filming others filming them doing it, and then putting the whole lot on the community FB page.

Then they pat each other on the back and tell each other what heros they are for ramping up the buggering about every Thursday I find it really really cringey. And it's like they've lost track of the point of it and who the 'heros' are meant to be. (ie NHS workers).

I'd like better working conditions instead please. Clapping seems hollow, you love us but we still haven't got time to have a wee during a shift and we get home late most days. Don't get me started on the lack of pay rise for the last 10 years. But it's ok cos it's a vocation and you love us so I don't need to be able to buy a new car.

It was a fine initiative but 1 it needed to be time limited. We can't keep going for a year 2 the govt hijacking it for their own purposes immediately took the shine off of it 3 tories clapping can fuck off if you're not willing to pay them and protect them properly then don't bother clapping. 4 calling them heroes doesn't make their unnecessary deaths ok. They are not heroes. They are workers whose job has put them at the insufficiently PPE'd centre if this particular shitshow.

I work in the private sector and the NHS and I’m not the biggest fan of it. It’s morphed from a lovely gesture into another virtue signalling, festival of bullies. One of my neighbours (who already doesn’t like me because I’m “not from ‘round ‘ere) called me a miserable cunt for not being outside clapping one week. He hasn’t a clue what I do or who I am really, but just used it as another excuse to be abusive.

Clearly I should’ve put the phone down on the grieving widow of one of my outstanding employees who I was taking to at the time

My colleagues are full of similar stories of being asked why they weren’t out clapping and didn’t they appreciate the NHS - apparently working a night shift, trying to eat for the first time in 12 hours or attempting to buy food to feed their children after work aren’t valid reasons.

I personally would rather our NHS employees were given an increase in pay. They deserved it long before this.

That being said, my neighbour works on a cardiac ward and has seen many people die unnecessarily due to covid. This hits her very hard at times and she has told us that the Thursday night clap really lifts her spirits and keeps her going.

Can I ask ( I’m not NHS ) why NHS workers don’t like the clap ? Genuine question . At best it’s an expression of appreciation and at worst perhaps it’s irritating but beyond that I don’t understand why it would be offensive or discouraged ?

Have there been any NHS workers in the press, saying to idiots if you break the rules then please DON'T clap for us, it's hypocritical .. might be an idea.