AIBU re hospital staff begging for freebies on social media?

[Biscoffaddict]

I’m fully prepared to get flamed for this, and I want to say I really do appreciate everything NHS staff are doing at the moment, but I can’t help but feel it’s a bit grabby and entitled to be asking for freebies on social media. The post in question was from a HCA who was asking for hand cream for their ‘poor sore hands’. She tagged about twenty colleagues in the post and also named the ward in question (not ICU).

It would be understandable if there was nowhere open to get hand cream from but it’s sold in Boots, Superdrug, all supermarkets and online. Very cheaply available as well, which is why this seems really grabby, entitled and a bit unprofessional if I’m honest. Lots of body shop and Avon reps have been tagged in the post and no doubt they’ll feel pressured into donating stuff and meeting the cost themselves (I’ve done Avon in the past and know how it all works).

For some reason this has really rubbed me up the wrong way. But like Ive said I’m prepared to be told I’m out of order.

That's not what i said at all kimchi, but whatever

@MissEliza

I'm struck to understand the need for a blue light or NHS discount. Lots of people do important roles for society but get paid pennies eg carers. I had a friend working for the police from home during the first lockdown who would make use of priority shopping ours. Meanwhile teachers keeping schools open wouldn't struggle to get their shopping done.

Lots of companies come with benefits. NHS discount is no different.

Mercedes office for example have several company benefits I don’t see this much different from a BL nhs discount infact I know what I would rather!

I disagree with staff doing this at all there is no need unless for patients and it’s grabby at a time when we are still paid. In relation to your OP to be fair most covid patients aren’t in icu so that’s irrelevant where they work. Majority of covid patients take up several normal wards in my trust.

@PurelyRidiculous one of my good friends is a dc and I know her work patterns. During the first lockdown, she honestly wasn't over stretched. I don't blame her at all making use of her perk but it would have been nice if that perk had been offered to school staff. To be fair, being able to shop between 8 and 9 wouldn't have been much use,

Ah your old MO @Katyppp , make clinical statements (rational thought in your world ) then accuse anyone who looks outside the box in the real of world of emotion and hysteria.

You did though. You said
'Time again on mn you see people being ripped to shreads if they complain abojt being skint on that level of income, but fir some reason £28k paid to a nurse or teacher seems to be worth less than £28k paid to an office worker '

But we weren't talking about teachers or office workers , we were talking about nurses , so using the rational thought you keep trying to teach me I can work out that you think nurses should put up and shut up. As when I pointed out that they have been saving lives in a pandemic (something you called emotional claptrap, which is utterly bizarre as even you can't deny thats what they should be doing ) you dismissed this.

Nurses pay more fees, they in many cases pay for parking , they work long night shifts and many across the pandemic had to move out of their own homes (not emotional claptrap, give it a quick Google ). Office workers in the majority WFH and had no travel expenses. So 28 grand was worth more at that time.

Anyway, I have learned through bitter experience there is no point trying to reason with you. If neither children or nurses in a pandemic make you develop the empathy you so clearly lack , and in all honesty im not convinced you possess rational thought in anything except your own opinions, all is lost really.

I agree it's unbelievable that nurses pay so much for parking or that they have even to pay at all.

Kimchi, agreed. Let's agree to differ

@Katyppp

Kimchi, agreed. Let's agree to differ

Made too many valid points that you can't call claptrap I see

Oh just let it go kimchi. You can have the last word

@Katyppp

Oh just let it go kimchi. You can have the last word

Now who's being hysterical?

You really are very bizarre , Katy.

[quote MissEliza]@PurelyRidiculous one of my good friends is a dc and I know her work patterns. During the first lockdown, she honestly wasn't over stretched. I don't blame her at all making use of her perk but it would have been nice if that perk had been offered to school staff. To be fair, being able to shop between 8 and 9 wouldn't have been much use,[/quote]
But I thought the point of that particular perk was that it was offered to people who worked irregular shift patterns. Which, as great as they are, teachers do not. Neither do they typically work weekends.

Your friend may not have had irregular hours but as a whole, police, NHS staff etc... Work shifts. Often unsociable ones. Whether or not they work from home is sort of irrelevant.

Kimchi, your 'MO' is lots of exclamation marks and hyperbole. Not sure in which world that constitutes 'valid points'.

There are no shortages of hand cream from the nhssupply chain.
It should be on every ward in a dispenser much like the hand sanitizer is.

Boots and Superdrug both offer discounts to NHS staff as well.

@Pomegranatespompom

God this again - another chance to bash nhs staff. I don’t know anyone who would ask for free things. But I also don’t know why people get so het up about it.

Are we not allowed to criticise NHS staff then? No one should be exempt from criticism.

But many people who have been approached to donate creams etc earn very little from their sales. For many, it's an additional job.

@10kstepsaroundthegardenthen

There are no shortages of hand cream from the nhssupply chain. It should be on every ward in a dispenser much like the hand sanitizer is.

“Should”. Hand sanitizer is besides every bed unlike the hand cream and I other places...I assume you don’t work on a hospital ward? Other wise you would know how many hand cream dispensers are on a ward

I’m a midwife. In the first lockdown we were donated so much stuff, we didn’t know what to do with it! It was kind but really unnecessary and sadly a lot of it was wasted because we couldn’t use it (non-medical PPE etc.).

The only time I have ever asked for something was some scrubs when I was pregnant as I needed uniform which would fit as I didn’t want to wear ‘home clothes’ whilst still seeing patients. Even then, it was a request to someone already making scrubs, not a begging post on Facebook!

And a lot of people donating will be paid a lot less than nurses, but are not aware of that.
As i said, the asumption is that nurses are very poorly paid. They are not.

The NHS Trust that I work for has sent round emails informing staff that begging posts will not be tolerated. I would have thought that this HCA is risking disciplinary action.

Irritates me greatly and should be some for, of disciplinary/ talking to to wards the staff doing this. It doesn't send out a great message, and surely is in breach of professional standards. I say that as a HCP, and would be highly disappointed in my colleagues if they did this.

Agree with you OP. During the first lockdown we did an 'unwanted gift' hand cream whip round at work and I dropped them in to the local hospital but that was because the majority of shops that were open had sold out and the nursing staff were struggling to get any at all. That's no longer the case.

@FallonMila wow your post hit hard. Are you getting any mental support for what you’re going through? I really hope that you can access some support. I also hope that things end swiftly now we have the vaccine. Thank you for everything you and your colleagues are doing. Xxx

I have loads of handcream where do I send it?

Did she get any free hand cream? Are her hands okay? Did you tell her what you thought more importantly..? So many questions.