Key worker rant

[cutie101]

What qualifies as key worker really annoys me.
More to the point the people who benefit from discounts and privileges even though they havent been in critical roles is getting to me.
Yes frontline staff have been absolutely amazing and deserve it, but what about the admin person who works for the NHS, or the optician, or the psychologists etc..their jobs haven't been impacted at all, but they benefit from the same discount as the true heroes. Im a teacher and have honestly never worked more than I have since March, in every day looking after children of key workers and vulnerable children, plus creating and recording lessons, making work available online, marking all work each day as well as so many other things...really annoyed me that looking in a car showroom the other day, those who work for the NHS get the staff discount at the moment, but not me. I am more than happy for the doctors, nurses, paramedics etc to benefit, but random admin who have been working from home or even furloughed...
Likewise I know a couple, both who worked from home throughout, just like so many other people. One is a solicitor in the public sector and the other works for a water company in their IT department. Again neither job critical during this time, but because one works for a water company and the other in the public sector, they are both classified as key workers so their children could carry on going to school, nursery etc.
I'm grumpy and ranting, but does anyone else feel the same?

I still want to know what the discounts are!

DH is a key worker. What have we missed?

@lyralalala
I don't believe you are a teacher. This is just another thread designed to get people having a pop at teachers imo

I think you're right.

This isn’t an oppression olympics. Yes we should pay people the value of their work, not how many people are qualified to do it.

The NHS is a bedrock of British society and one the government like to wheel out and clap for... they’ll do everything other than give them a raise.

If you really want 10% off ASOS, then join the NHS? I’ve been working flat out working 4 on 4 off in a factory. I don’t get any discounts other than a few perks at work. I’m just grateful that I still have one.

I am not key worker bashing. I am asking why some are more important than others. Apart from those on the frontline themselves who absolutely are more important and deserved to be recognised as such.
Unfortunately I know admin staff who work for speech therapists in the community who have not had increased workload. They have continued with their work from home like everyone else. I dont see them as critical workers in the same way as doctors and refuse collectors.

YABU and ignorant. NHS workers were ineligible for furlough. Those “random admin workers” keep the NHS cogs moving and the ones in non managerial positions (most of them!) are paid massively less than teachers. Get over yourself.

that's a whole other side to this and absolutely it has been beyond devastating and there should have been more in place, but it is a whole other discussion

Because some jobs are more important than others.

And some companies choose to offer those occupations discounts. It’s not hard to work out and this thread is really annoying me.

Unfortunately I know admin staff who work for speech therapists in the community who have not had increased workload. They have continued with their work from home like everyone else. I dont see them as critical workers in the same way as doctors and refuse collectors.

Well they're pretty critical for keeping things going in the community so that patients with swallowing problems can be assessed by the speech therapists and potentially not choke to death. Do you have any idea what their job actually entails

Very much doubt you are an actual teacher.

Keyworkers really should be limited to those actually getting their hands dirty, literally or metaphorically.

I get where you're coming from OP. One of my neighbours does backroom admin at the local cottage hospital. She had a minor accident in the supermarket car park, as a result of which her car was written off. She created merry hell with the other ladies insurers until they gave her a hire car for the duration because she was a NHS keyworker don't you know and couldn't possibly replace her car in a pandemic. Leaving out the fact she doesn't work unsociable hours, the hospital is a 25 min walk max from our houses, and in normal times she wouldn't have a Buckley's of getting a hire car once they'd paid her the cars value. However clearly worried about adverse publicity she's had a nice shiny hire car for the last 4 months.

Yes frontline staff have been absolutely amazing and deserve it, but what about... the psychologists etc..their jobs haven't been impacted at all, but they benefit from the same discount as the true heroes. Im a teacher and have honestly never worked more than I have since March

I'm a psychologist working with children and young people and the past five months have been the hardest and most stressful that I have ever worked. The workload went through the roof.

that's a whole other side to this and absolutely it has been beyond devastating and there should have been more in place, but it is a whole other discussion

Yeah, one worth actually having. Get over yourself. Looking down on other people's jobs when you have no idea.

*My key worker rant is this...

In the UK, more than 540 health and social care workers, including 5 people at the hospital where I work, have died from covid so far. Most of these deaths were in the early months when we didn't have access to enough PPE.

www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/uk-among-highest-covid-19-health-worker-deaths-world

And yet you don't read about that in the media do you? It was all about "NHS heroes" cannon fodder this and that, now it's who is getting a pay rise and who isn't (personally I couldn't care less). And then there's posts like this bitching about who gets a discount?!

WHO CARES??? IT DOESN'T MATTER!

...and breathe

Sorry OP, but your use of the phrase "true heroes" really pisses me off, I feel like the heavy emphasis on the word "hero" brushes under the carpet the fact that a lot of employees were completely failed by their employer to keep them and their families safe. And now there are at least 540 grieving families. *

And this.

Staff at my hospital have died too. Most of us have been infected and been sick, and many seriously unwell. Several of my close colleagues were admitted to hospital having contracted covid-19 at work, including to intensive care.

The rest of us will have PTSD as a result.

It's shit.

Now people are moaning about NHS discounts, which have existed for years. (Look up blue light card)

@Popc0rn

Unfortunately I know admin staff who work for speech therapists in the community who have not had increased workload. They have continued with their work from home like everyone else. I dont see them as critical workers in the same way as doctors and refuse collectors.

Well they're pretty critical for keeping things going in the community so that patients with swallowing problems can be assessed by the speech therapists and potentially not choke to death. Do you have any idea what their job actually entails

Very much doubt you are an actual teacher.

Absolutely. I don’t think people realise the critical role played by SALTs.

As for your last sentence, well, certainly not an English teacher!

I am sick of hearing people whining about feeling they should have some sort of freebies or discounts or entitlements or government handout for doing their job (or not doing it).

The thank yous and seeing people get well and back to their home or seeing children enjoying being at school or nursery or just feeling you are helping others should be enough.

I also hate this 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme. No problem if there are those who could otherwise not afford to eat out but if you can you should pay for it yourself and not be adding to the national debt. Jeremy Hunt - multimillionaire MP - had £50 of his lunch bill paid for by it. It is madness and he should be ashamed to have accepted that money. I am sick of seeing people stuffing themselves on it. It encourages greed and over-eating. We haven't used it once. I am aware I sound like a misery- I'm not, we eat out on non-scheme nights and pay the cost of the meal.

You have no idea how many of us have had to carry on working. Have cared for those with COVID (I’m not a nurse or medically trained) had to manage without adequate PPE at first and have done hours and hours of unpaid overtime as you wouldn’t consider us front line

The stress and anxiety has exhausted us all in the large team I work for

Still I got 25% off my Friday night take away so all was worth it

Do you resent care workers getting discounts with their Blue Light card too ?

Op you have no idea what you are talking about but some advice look on line for discounts and they are nearly all if not better than my nhs discounts

@hibbledobble

The potential so many staff having PTSD is another reason that I hate the repeated use of the word "hero". It makes it sound like people should be strong and I genuinely think it will make people feel guilty about seeking help in the future if "hero" keeps being trotted out in the media and general conversation.

I agree popcorn

I'm not a hero. I'm a normal person, that probably also has PTSD. I have not sought treatment in part due to the toxic belief that doctors don't become sick. The other reason is that I don't have time to seek treatment.

@Popc0rn

My key worker rant is this...

In the UK, more than 540 health and social care workers, including 5 people at the hospital where I work, have died from covid so far. Most of these deaths were in the early months when we didn't have access to enough PPE.

www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/uk-among-highest-covid-19-health-worker-deaths-world

And yet you don't read about that in the media do you? It was all about "NHS heroes" cannon fodder this and that, now it's who is getting a pay rise and who isn't (personally I couldn't care less). And then there's posts like this bitching about who gets a discount?!

WHO CARES??? IT DOESN'T MATTER!

...and breathe

Sorry OP, but your use of the phrase "true heroes" really pisses me off, I feel like the heavy emphasis on the word "hero" brushes under the carpet the fact that a lot of employees were completely failed by their employer to keep them and their families safe. And now there are at least 540 grieving families.

I'm glad it's not just me who feels that the "heroes" thing is rather too convenient for the government. It completely detracts from the fact that many key workers are underpaid and not kept safe at work. I felt uncomfortable being classed as a key worker (I'm a teacher), but it's a fact that education is underfunded and the return of secondaries is a car crash waiting to happen... But yay, we're heroes, so it's OK

And @Popc0rn I'm so sorry to hear those figures, absolutely horrendous

Teachers do get discounts too. Often around technology:
Example from Apple

I don't get that despite being on a lower wage per hour than a teacher, shorter holidays... and working over double my normal hours over Covid lockdown.

I'll get different advantages, but no discounts on anything.

Don't look over your shoulder about what others have and enjoy what you can get.

On a housing thread yesterday there were posts intimating that lower paid workers wernt as hard working and if they couldnt afford their own places they should live in shared houses/where they could afford to.
a. Poor housing has exacerbated the spread of Covid.

b.Some of those living in poor housing ARE key workers. Channel 4 news did a piece on a care worker having to share a kitchen with ten other families.
c. i think there are certain sections of society who dont want the status quo to be changed and cant wait to go back to the way it was before. Some people have learned nothing.

Likewise I know a couple, both who worked from home throughout, just like so many other people. One is a solicitor in the public sector and the other works for a water company in their IT department. Again neither job critical during this time, but because one works for a water company and the other in the public sector, they are both classified as key workers so their children could carry on going to school, nursery etc.

If they did this the whole time schools were closed they were breaking the rules. For April and May you were only supposed to send your kids in if there was no-one at home and you had no other option. From June if you were a key worker you could send your kids in, I know a number of people who weren't even working but sent their kids in because their other half was a key worker and those were the rules. I was working full time (12 hour days min) and couldn't send my child to school. It was rubbish but that was just the way it was.
Of course there will be a small percentage of NHS staff not put out by COVID who can still take advantage of discounts but so what. Overall a lot of NHS workers are lower paid and so who cares if they get a small advantage.

No-one is asking for you to pay for their discount so I don't really understand why it bothers you.

I have an nhs card. The discounts are not that great anyway. The best is 20% off nandos but that’s only for one meal. And there’s a max limit. You get better discounts online, and even restaurant vouchers with 30% off. Even the online health service websites aren’t great either. When I signed up you could get the same deals without working for the nhs....

I've been asking for NHS discounts in places (normally restaurants) for years. I've had a blue light card for years.
I also have an TOTUM (Student card) because I'm a fully qualified, fully paid doctor who happens to be a training scheme for a speciality. This means I qualify for student discounts. It also means I pay for amazon prime student - all the perks, but for less money.

People are more aware of the discounts, but there aren't a lot more than normal, they've always been around.

Admins, ward clerks, IT technicians, catering teams do jobs which are usually overworked (cuts can be first in non clinical areas). Many go above and beyond and have worked through Covid, the NHS would collapse without its ancillary and support staff. Many of whom are band 2 or band 3 (I.e. not in it for the wages). I’ve worked on medical wards in the past where admin staff have made beds, helped patients to the toilet, given out tea, comforted grieving relatives, comforted overworked nurses all whilst doing their jobs.

I’m a newly qualified ICU nurse, worked in ICU as a student during the pandemic. We don’t like this heroes labelling, at least not where I work.