To be fed up of the "I'm a key worker" line now

[Chishelled]

Fair play, I do understand that not every key worker is pulling this out at opportunity and that not all key workers are acting like entitled selfish twits, plus the fact DP and I (although only on day two) are both NHS - him as a doctor and me within mental health.

Our entire local facebook page is full of "I am a key worker, I need to get petrol, people are being so selfish" BUT why do key workers expect to be prioritised for petrol now, particularly when many of the ones posting work in our local hospital which is a 20 minute walk away??

It's just all adding to the scare mongering and hype by trotting out the "I'm a key worker, I need petrol priority...[it's going to run out again], plus plenty of people are having to commute back to work due to the end of furlough and the fact that offices are well and truly reopen - are their jobs seen as lesser?

I propose on the spot fines for anyone who uses the phrase "I am a key worker" to get preferential treatment from this point forwards [unless of course we go back into Lockdown again]

[ExConstance]

I manage a team of domiciliary care workers. They have been worried silly about being able to get petrol, and the situation is worse for those who need diesel. If they can't get fuel the elderly bed bound people they care for will be unable to get out of bed or get anything to eat. The repercussions for skin condition, continence issues and mobililty would have a knock on effect for the NHS within days as they are so prone to UTIs, pressure sores and falls. Care services always come last, their contribution goes unrecognised and NHS staff get preferential treatment. Of course homecare workers are key workers and they need priority to get fuel otherwise their service users will suffer. We have all been a breaking point since Covid, underfunded and understaffed, this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back for some of us.

[wewereliars]

Yes OP you are totally unreasonable to starting another divide and rule thread.

People are entitled to expect fuel at the pumps and food on the shelves. Just like they have in mainland Europe.

The current shitshow is down to the lazy, lying incompetent excuse for a government. Not to people daring to expect to live their lives.

[VeryBerry22]

@Savoury

It's an interesting point.
I've read posts from doctors and other key workers on my street whatsapp plead for fuel but there's a bus from the end of our road to the hospital they work in - literally door to door.
Meanwhile my kids' bus has taken an hour to go 3km because of queues and there is still a long way to go.
I hope this is a wake-up call for our government on many levels - they're nowhere near being ready for carbon neutral and we need immigration to grow.

Do you have many doctors living on your road?

[DunderMifflinSalesRep]

I'm a "key worker". I've got a letter signed by the head of the county council, the county police force, and the head of the local NHS trust confirming that I'm "critical to the county's Covid response."

I work from home

[KingsleyShacklebolt]

@FrogsAreMean

I do not agree with one word you have said.
What about ‘key workers’ who visit patient’s at home, sometimes more than once a day and who have several house calls to make every day and night.

Yes because of course every single "key worker" is a carer who visits people at home.

Key workers include teachers, amazon delivery drivers, supermarket workers, police, train staff, pilots, bus drivers, air traffic controllers, ferry staff, power station workers... and probably dozens of other roles key to national infrastructure.

[Chishelled]

People are entitled to expect fuel at the pumps and food on the shelves. Just like they have in mainland Europe

Which is exactly what this thread is about @wewereliars

All people should be able to get fuel - not just key workers as is what some of the key workers are now expecting and requesting.

[LucyGrey]

This latest farce is highlighting yet again what an intolerant, selfish and entitled society we have become. It's so sad. I'm not going to dish out the "be kind " trope, it would just be nice if people had more respect for one another, and themselves.

[Chishelled]

@VEGAS2016 I know how hospitals work - perhaps read by OP :-)

Everyone who needs fuel to get to work, needs fuel, everyone who needs fuel full stop, needs fuel.

[wewereliars]

Chiselled missing the point much

[vivainsomnia]

The lack of staff has not been caused by people not being able to get fuel for their cars though. Now, or in the past
Never said they did

The point is that the NHS really can do with yet more cause to add more trouble to them carrying out their duty to the public.

The reason why people shout they key workers status is because of the imbeciles who don't need urgent access to things acting entitled above those who do.

Of course there are idiots who use their key workers status to their benefit when not justified, but these are much fewer than those who think their needs are more important than anyone else.

There are different levels of key workers, sadly it is almost impossible to put people in categories and check which they are.

I don't need my car, but I really feel for essential workers who will let down critically ill patients/clients because of the idiots who went to fill their car to take their darlings to school because they can't possibly walk 15mns (ie. my neighbour!).

[vivainsomnia]

Care services always come last, their contribution goes unrecognised and NHS staff get preferential treatment
Totally agree with this. I think it's because it's much easier to evidence you work for the NHS than proving you work in an essential caring role but they certainly deserve as much priority than essential NHS staff.

[CovoidOfAllHumanity]

But right now it would appear that not everyone can have fuel

So some kind of rationing/ priority is needed at the moment.

And some kind of keyworker priority is actually a thing most people would agree on it's just that the definition of that which is at issue.

It should not be anyone with an NHS badge because that will include a lot of people who don't actually need it and exclude people who do in other industries and other situations

I don't know the answer but just saying that everyone has the same need for fuel just isn't true and isn't helpful when there clearly is not enough to go around despite what the government say.

[Rosebel]

Although thinking about the last lockdown we had virtually everyone was a key worker or an essential worker so on that basis the majority of people would still be entitled to petrol.

[Theredjellybean]

@GeorgiaGirl52
Thank you for a heartening post on a rather miserable thread.
If we managed things in a time with less communication tech etc.. Why can't we do same now?
I hate to think its just because as a society we have become more selfish but fear that is the reason.
Am earlier poster stating she needed fuel and was key worker as she delivers artisan food products to shops summs it up.
If someone not being able to buy their oat and spelt lentil loaf is deemed as bad as a community palliative care nurse not being able to get to a dying patient, well I think as a society we have reached rock bottom

[vivainsomnia]

The current shitshow is down to the lazy, lying incompetent excuse for a government. Not to people daring to expect to live their lives
No, it really isn't. It's a mess because of selfish, entitled people who only care about their own welfare that we are where we are.

Everyone is coming up with excuses of course, but ultimately, no one is forcing people to stock up on pasta and rice. People are just selfish and somehow lost the mean to think rationally!

[vivainsomnia]

@Theredjellybean, well said!

[rwalker]

We only have a few petrol stations shut they have been very very vocal about the cause of it .
All there deliveries as normal just greed of panic buying

[VEGAS2016]

If you know how hospitals work OP why did you say that MOST people in hospitals work 9-5 or 7-7??? That is absolutely not the case where i am :)

[JazzerMcCreary]

I’m a community midwife. I do actually need to buy fuel today as I’m on less than 1/4 of a tank. I’m not looking forward to driving around after work trying to find some but I won’t be whinging about being a keyworker or more important than anyone else. Plenty of people have valid reasons for needing to use their vehicles. It would be impossible to police priority and not something that poor petrol station attendants on minimum wage should have to deal with.

[VEGAS2016]

There are jobs OP that will have a potential detrimental consequence for many people if certain groups of workers are unable to attend work (police, firefighters, NHS etc etc)

A massive fire breaks out & because of the fuel crisis half of the firefighters can’t attend- 400 people die? A bit different to maud down the road who can’t get to work in accountants isn’t it?

Sorry maud not meaning to offend you or anyone else, l jobs are important to someone/economy/society just trying to illustrate the difference!

[user1497207191]

@VEGAS2016

If you know how hospitals work OP why did you say that MOST people in hospitals work 9-5 or 7-7??? That is absolutely not the case where i am :)

Depends on what you mean by "most" which by most standards is over half.

If you go into a hospital mid morning or mid afternoon midweek, it's a hive of activity, staff everywhere. If you go in at 10 at night or a Sunday morning, you're hard pressed to see anyone until you get to the ward, where there are some staff. Outpatients will be closed, most operating theatres will be closed, scans/xrays will be on skeleton staff, admin/offices are in darkness, clinics are in darkness, etc., even the canteen/cafe will be closed evenings leaving only vending machines. Likewise, there'll only be a skeleton staff of maintenance workers, caretakers etc outside of the peak working day.

So, on a pure numbers figure "most" staff in a hospital, i.e. over half will only work Mon-Fri daytime hours, but if you look only at front line clinical/medical/ward staff, then yes, there may well be more than half of those present outside the peak times.

That's not to mention some hospitals that don't even open at all during evenings/weekends, i.e. those without wards, used only for day cases, scans/tests, clinics, outpatients, etc.

[georgarina]

Don't get annoyed with the people, get annoyed with the govt for making the rules

[Brainwave89]

My son is a surgeon and works long hours, often when buses do not run. The same would be true of theatre nurses. Some of whom have struggled to get to work over the last few days. In some cases, getting these critical staff to work is literally a matter of life and death. I find it depressing that some mumsnet posters do not seem to be able to grasp this. Perhaps we do need to draw the net a bit tighter around who is key, but I cannot help the suspicion that in some cases the attitude that my needs trump anyone elses is prevailing here.

[user1497207191]

@VEGAS2016

There are jobs OP that will have a potential detrimental consequence for many people if certain groups of workers are unable to attend work (police, firefighters, NHS etc etc)

A massive fire breaks out & because of the fuel crisis half of the firefighters can’t attend- 400 people die? A bit different to maud down the road who can’t get to work in accountants isn’t it?

Sorry maud not meaning to offend you or anyone else, l jobs are important to someone/economy/society just trying to illustrate the difference!

Of course, accountancy isn't on the same scale as people dying in a burning building.

But, it's important to people on a different scale. I.e. how many people would be happy if their wages were a couple of days late because the accountant couldn't process them by the bank deadline? How many people would be happy being fined £100 for a late tax return or say £1000 for a late filing of company accounts? Yes, people don't die because an accountant can't get to work, but that doesn't mean that people won't "suffer" in some form.

What if the "key worker's" wages are late meaning that their card doesn't work when they get to the front of the queue at the petrol station and can't buy fuel?

We're all cogs in the big wheel, there are very few jobs that don't affect other people if they're not done, whether that's a fireman, surgeon, cleaner, or even accountant.

[anonymousanne]

I think YABU.
If there was a real fuel crisis then of course key workers should be prioritised.
We need doctors/nurses/ambulance crew/police/fire/supermarket workers/delivery drivers/utility maintenance (gas/electric/water).
I am a nurse, I cannot work from home and need to get to patients homes. My husband works in an office, he can do a large element of his job at home. It's pretty obvious one of us needs fuel more than the other.
One job has an impact on the health and well-being of others, the other wouldn't (although obviously not ideal for the company/economy).
We had to have an ambulance out to my dad yesterday, luckily they were able to get there and get him to hospital. Where would we have been to without the emergency services having transportation!?
It's not about key workers feeling self important or entitlement, it's a fact we rely on these services. I'm sure there were plenty of people who could work from home filling up. I was meant to be meeting my mil today, it's an 80 mile round trip. I've cancelled, obviously, as it's not a valid reason to use fuel at the moment. We all need to be conscientious and weigh up if we really need to travel at the moment.
As for your colleagues driving what would be a 20 minute walk... well that's exactly what's wrong with society. We are largely lazy and rely too heavily on cars. I know many people who drive to the local shop which would be a 5 mins walk. I'm sure those hospital staff would say they drive because they don't feel safe walking at night (assuming long shifts like I do), which sadly is a valid point these days and you only need watch the news to confirm why women feel at risk!