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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To disagree with NHS only petrol stations?

638 replies

pistachio20 · 27/09/2021 11:08

Some petrol stations around me have now said that they are only allowing in NHS staff to refuel - apparently checking ID.

I find this completely ridiculous and unfair - not only because the majority of NHS staff where I live can easily get public transport to work (most who I know don’t drive to work anyway, and get train/bus anyway due to lack of free parking!).

So many crucial jobs require people to drive, let alone people with caring responsibilities, mobility issues, etc.

AIBU to think that it’s unfair?

OP posts:
WormYourHonour · 27/09/2021 11:11

So many crucial jobs require people to drive, let alone people with caring responsibilities, mobility issues, etc.

Of the NHS people, by your decree, can get buses, why can't everyone else?

Anon778833 · 27/09/2021 11:13

YABU

I think it's fair. If other people could take what they need instead of filling up endless Jerry cans, thus wouldn't need to happen. But people are vultures & always will be.

SinoohXaenaHide · 27/09/2021 11:13

Petrol stations are private businesses, they have no obligation to be fair other than not being allowed to discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics of age, sex, disability, sexuality, race, religion, marital status, maternity status, or gender transition status. Who your employer is isn't a protected characteristic so they have every right to choose who to sell to. If you want to take the decision out of the hands of private businesses, vote comunist party so that all petrol stations are owned by the state, and see how that works out.

girlmom21 · 27/09/2021 11:14

Many, many people who work for the NHS have worked from home for the last 18 months. It's a daft idea. It's like when all NHS workers got priority access to supermarkets etc.

What about carers who work for private companies? They're more likely to need the fuel than anyone working in a single location.

letsmakethishappen · 27/09/2021 11:14

Where abouts can I find these I need my car filling ASAP I have patients’ lives to save?

Original poster
pistachio20 · 27/09/2021 11:15

@WormYourHonour

So many crucial jobs require people to drive, let alone people with caring responsibilities, mobility issues, etc.

Of the NHS people, by your decree, can get buses, why can't everyone else?

Presumably a lot of them can, hence petrol not being restricted specifically for one group of people.

If petrol stations insist on having these regulations, it makes far more sense to consider which other groups of people may be as worthy of getting petrol rather than solely NHS staff IMO.

OP posts:
Feilin · 27/09/2021 11:15

Buses and trains dont always run at the times we nhs staff need to be in work for so forgive us for needing to use cars . I'll raise it with our trust that perhaps they need to provide us with bicycles or at the very least horses . Maybe that would suit you better.

notanothertakeaway · 27/09/2021 11:15

I think it's a daft idea. Many NHS employees are working from home. Many non-NHS workers have a genuine need for fuel

Feilin · 27/09/2021 11:17

And as for only selling petrol to nhs staff I do actually agree that is not fair . Sadly prioritising like that has led to us copping enough abuse as it is.

Original poster
pistachio20 · 27/09/2021 11:18

@Feilin

Buses and trains dont always run at the times we nhs staff need to be in work for so forgive us for needing to use cars . I'll raise it with our trust that perhaps they need to provide us with bicycles or at the very least horses . Maybe that would suit you better.
Can’t you understand that other essential jobs also require people to use cars to get into work? Confused
OP posts:
AliceAbsolum · 27/09/2021 11:19

Jesus everyone is so obsessed with the nhs. I work for it and don't want special bloody treatment.
Emergency service vehicles yes that's just sensible. An OT on his way to work as usual. No.

MolyHolyGuacamole · 27/09/2021 11:20

Absolutely agree with you OP but expect those who have made martyrs of them will be along in a minute. I had a relative announce yesterday she made sure she filled up -- she works from home! Meanwhile I have to figure out how I'm getting to work when my petrol runs out, several nannies in a similar position with parents expecting them to do the school run etc, twice a day, with limited petrol.

Anyone who needs to get to work and cannot work from home should be able to get petrol. As this can't be properly judged, it should be as it is. No point keeping it only for NHS staff, what percent of the working population is this actually benefitting anyway?

MolyHolyGuacamole · 27/09/2021 11:21

@AliceAbsolum

Jesus everyone is so obsessed with the nhs. I work for it and don't want special bloody treatment. Emergency service vehicles yes that's just sensible. An OT on his way to work as usual. No.
Absolutely agree.
Jenala · 27/09/2021 11:21

It's beyond silly. Not all NHS workers have roles where things will grind to a halt if they're not there. My first job was as an NHS admin assistant. How it would it be fair that I could get fuel and a mobile care worker needed to give meds, wash and prepare meals for an elderly or disabled person wouldn't?

Honestly think people think having an NHS staff badge makes you some kind of special person.

Original poster
pistachio20 · 27/09/2021 11:21

@notanothertakeaway

I think it's a daft idea. Many NHS employees are working from home. Many non-NHS workers have a genuine need for fuel
Yes exactly - a friend who is a carer and drives to multiple houses per day to give them essential care has been unable to get petrol so far today. It’s bizarre anyone can argue that the blanket NHS only petrol stations make sense without any consideration to other important jobs.
OP posts:
Chinnybeaky · 27/09/2021 11:21

I agree you cant prioritise whose work is more important, yes emergency services most defo should, but the comment most can get the bus, i do a 72 mile round trip to work in my emergency department 4 times a week, no bus service certainly not able to bike, but i dont see im more priority then anyone else! Just having to fill up more regualry as and when i can to keep my tank above half

Samcro · 27/09/2021 11:22

what about carers?
I get fed up with the NHS being prioritised. not all nhs workers are essentail.

SaddenedByItAll · 27/09/2021 11:23

I do wonder if this is a chance of a bit of virtue signalling from the companies that are choosing to go down this route.

a bit of "look at us aren't we great"

Anyway, in a free market economy they can do as they wish for the most part but I also wonder how long they will keep it up when service has resumed as normal and profits are waaaay down because the NHS (gawd blessit) doesnt empty the pumps quick enough on its own.

Shurl · 27/09/2021 11:24

Of course it isn't fair. But I'm sure my nhs-employed home-based non-clinician exMIL will be swanning up there with her pass for special treatment, just like she was at the supermarket last year.

For key front line staff,maybe. But surely that should also apply to teachers, carers, nursery staff and so on and so on. But then what about the single mother with a terminally I'll child who might need to be rushed to hospital at the last minute? Or the people who care for elderly parents so they don't need to be in the care system? Etc. We live in a society where atm most people need fuel. Few people drive for fun.

This country's worship of the NHS is just weird.

MobyDicksTinyCanoe · 27/09/2021 11:25

No, because we'll have NHS reception staff floating around with their badges like guardian angels again...... Tbh hospitals are one of the few places that usually have a half decent bus service. Nobody based on site needs special treatment, I've got a lot more sympathy for home carers and the likes of Macmillan nurses who travel about.

x2boys · 27/09/2021 11:26

I remember in them doing this when there was a fuel crisis, was it in 2000?
When there were drivers strikes (i think), people had to get a docket from there NHS manager, but i remember there was a limit to how fuel people could buy.

Laughsaminute · 27/09/2021 11:27

Agreed. NHS manager here and I can work from home. It’s only clinical staff who need to see patients f2f and emergency care staff (eg ambulance staff, call handlers) who need priority. Many staff (including some clinical staff who can do phone/ online appts) don’t need priority access.

What about all the carers working in domicilary care in the private sector? Much more important they get access to fuel. Otherwise we will see an increase in frail and elderly falls/ unplanned hospital admissions.

Staryflight445 · 27/09/2021 11:27

Community nurses, midwifes, mental health teams all need to be able to drive around op.

Staryflight445 · 27/09/2021 11:28

You’ve completely forgotten about ambulances and support vehicles too.

MobyDicksTinyCanoe · 27/09/2021 11:28

And for what it's worth my friend can't get to his 94 year old mum that he cares for so he's having to get the train up. He can't have her at his because she can't manage the stairs and hell would freeze over before she'd use a commode. NHS staff are probably the least affected as they have some sort of back up, us plebs don't.