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.

Ellapaella I’m wondering if you are one of these grabby, entitled people I’m talking about? That’s the only reason I am think of as to why you’ve taken such offence at what I’ve said? I’d have thought it was fairly obvious that I’m not talking about all hospital staff and my title was just a figure of speech? Or maybe you are just being obtuse for the sake of it?

I think you'd find that the people asking for this sort of thing aren't the people who are struggling at work because of Covid.

because the nhs have taken the brunt force of all of this

It's attitudes like this that are actually really starting to wind people up - the brunt force has been shared by many people, in many different employment organisations across the country.

You are not the sole people who have suffered, been traumatised, "taken the brunt force".

I appreciate everything the NHS has done always - but - many, many people are suffering, are severely traumatised, have taken the brunt force of covid who don't work for the NHS.

Agree it's grabby. I don't like to see any public sector bodies doing it.

Manchester Fire did it in 2018 when they had a wildfire. They actually had an Amazon wish list! Lots of people on MN supported it tough and thought it was because their fire service had been cut so much they couldn't even provide water to drink for frontline firefighters . Total nonsense and should be clamped down on by employers.

Posted too early..

Yes ICU have sick sick sick covid patients, however there are many other wards in the hospital that are treating covid aswell. The notion that ITU are the only speciality hit by this is annoying me more than anything OP, a lot of my friends are ICU nurses and in the hospital there's solidarity through this that there wasn't before, we're all in it regardless of wether you're level 1,2 or 3 care. And no, I still wouldn't ask for the hand cream even if I did work in ITU

@Amyloulou I agree with everything you say apart from being trained to deal with a highly contagious disease with a significant morbidity and mortality. I've worked in healthcare for over 25 years and until this year I have never felt my personal health or my life threatened by my work. I never expected nor was I trained to deal with a pandemic of these proportions. Sure, I knew they were possible at an academic level but I never believed it would happen. Modern healthcare in the western world has been a very safe place to work until the last 12 months.

@HollowTalk

I think you'd find that the people asking for this sort of thing aren't the people who are struggling at work because of Covid.

That’s just it. I’d imagine those who are really on the front line and dealing with it all are far too busy and wrapped up in what’s going on to spend time begging on social media?

@TonMoulin no one is denying that - what people are saying is that nurses and doctors are not the only ones experiencing high levels of traumatic stress in this - refugees, the homeless, people who already had traumatic stress diagnoses, care home workers, women who have fled domestic violence, children and young people who have been made homeless or been removed into care in areas where there are no foster care places...

@Indecisive12

It’s also available in pumps in almost all clinical areas.

Sanitiser may be. Not hand cream.

What staff on ICU are going through at the moment you mean? This lady doesn’t work on ICU.

OP please don't put words in my mouth. Of course ICU staff have the absolute brunt of it atm and I can't even imagine what they're going through, but I don't think we can deny that it has been hard for other NHS staff too.

YANBU - my daughter is a HCA and wouldn't dream of asking for freebies, they have received a lot, mostly from larger companies delivered to the hospital.

She also commented that there is no way she would go to the front of the queue at a supermarket and ask to go in before everyone else, and most of her colleagues feel the same.

@HeyDW96

Posted too early..

Yes ICU have sick sick sick covid patients, however there are many other wards in the hospital that are treating covid aswell. The notion that ITU are the only speciality hit by this is annoying me more than anything OP, a lot of my friends are ICU nurses and in the hospital there's solidarity through this that there wasn't before, we're all in it regardless of wether you're level 1,2 or 3 care. And no, I still wouldn't ask for the hand cream even if I did work in ITU

Yes, there are many non-ICU Covid wards with hundreds of people on them. The staff on these wards actually have much less good PPE than ICU despite having a huge exposure to massive viral loads. Many of the respiratory doctors are off having caught covid at one local hospital. The paper masks and plastic pinnys are totally useless on these non-ICU covid wards.

Can you point out where I or anyone else has said this is representative even of the NHS workforce?
Well your AIBU stays “hospital staff” rather than this one singular woman who’s a CF, so I can understand why people think this. It’s not really because she’s a HCP it’s because she’s a chancer at the end of the day. Unless you’ve seen multiple different HCP asking for hand cream?

Did she actually ask for donations of hand cream? Could she be asking for recommendations rather than outright donations?

My local facebook is dominated by the posters who 'need to find' a local tradesperson/someone selling something and then people post recommendations. I usually suspect these are all set-ups - a friend of a seller/tradesperson asks and another friend recommends

This is so true. We've recently had lots of local yummy mummy’s asking where they can get balloons following a new balloon company setting up in the area. It’s so fake and so transparent. I know it’s not illegal but it’s annoying and puts me off ever using the company.

I’m NHS and have been impacted by Covid but as others have said:
I have a job and am not wondering how to pay the mortgage
I have childcare and am not juggling children at home and work
I work in an area which insists people have masks and provides them (compare that to Asda for example)
I’m well paid...compare that to carers.
HR is supportive ...compare that to carers.

Yes work is utter crap at the moment and very stressful and I’ve been frightened by poor supply of PPE last year, risk of infection and being overwhelmed but I do know many others facing similar challenges.

Only a small % of the NHS is at the sharp end on Covid wards or A&E. I am very sympathetic to them. The rest of us should just crack on.

So YANBU ...I wish the greedy beggars would stop because it’s turning the public against the NHS which is on the whole unfair.

A local midwife posted a wish list for Amazon...it was embarrassing

Thank you @RedFrogsRule - I know this has been utterly utterly frightening for NHS staff but it's really nice to read a post where there's some understanding to what other professions / people are going through.

Thank you also for all that you do.

YANBU. Our teaching staff is constantly gelling hands in our new bubbles; we're not begging for free handcream. We also have to provide our own gel and cleaning stuff when we're between supplies coming in.

I hated this in the first lockdown, I was glad it has mostly gone away this time around. Appears not completely though.

@RedFrogsRule

A local midwife posted a wish list for Amazon...it was embarrassing

Yep. A local nurse has done the same in a local FB group here. I really wanted to comment, but then decided it would be a bad idea.

YANBU - I don’t know why this pandemic has elevated all the NHS staff to deities for some bizarre reason. They are doing their job and getting paid for it, and they shouldn’t need handouts, people clapping and all this other bullshit that I keep seeing on social media either.

It is grabby. It would still be somewhat acceptable if they didn't tag the others.

"We are running out of hand cream and budgets only stretch so far. Does anyone have any spare?" would be absolutely fine.

I've seen NHS staff asking for coffee machines and pods, not for their staff rooms but for home use. I'd happily contribute to supporting them as staff but buying them a coffee machine when they're doing 16 hour days away from home seems ridiculous. There was even a nurse on FB marketplace asking for a kitchen to be fitted saying 'I'm a frontline NHS worker in need of some help, would anyone be willing to donate.' but in her bio it said she was a receptionist at a small surgery.

These people give deserving NHS staff a bad name and it makes it difficult to know who deserves our donations.

@springiscoming12

YANBU - I don’t know why this pandemic has elevated all the NHS staff to deities for some bizarre reason. They are doing their job and getting paid for it, and they shouldn’t need handouts, people clapping and all this other bullshit that I keep seeing on social media either.

If NHS staff were only doing the job and hours they’re paid for we’d all be doomed.

Personally I’m grateful for everyone putting themselves at risk, going the extra mile. Don’t care what job whether it’s teachers, police, prison service,NHS, carers and so many more. You know who you are, thank you

I have utmost respect for NHS and keyworkers, but I think communities are shooting themselves in the foot a bit here.
I have seen many posts on social media asking for donations to the local hospital of snacks, sweets, crisps, drinks, scrubs, facemasks, moisturising cream and lifts to and from work.
However, imo this is the govts responsibility, to ensure they are paid a fair wage and have what they need to fulfil their roles.
When charities and communities start taking this responsibility from the govt, the govt sits back and relinquishes responsibility.
When this happens, the onus shifts from the govt to the community and charities, and ime, the govt doesnt takeover responsibility again.
The best thing we can do for NHS staff and key workers is to lobby the govt to provide what they need! Vote for the party who has the best interests of the NHS and pressure the govt into taking responsibility as they should be doing.
What starts as a kind gesture usually ends in the recipient, in this case NHS and key workers becoming completely dependent upon charitable donations.