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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU- free childcare NHS

60 replies

Newintown123 · 23/11/2021 15:04

I am a professional career nanny and have recently signed up to use bubble babysitting. I have received a barrage of job requests from NHS staff asking for free sits- some as long as 10 hours a day. A recent request required 10 hrs per day for 10 weeks- for FREE

AIBU- considering many nannies have had their hours reduced/ made redundant since an increasing number of parents are WFH

OP posts:
DroopyClematis · 23/11/2021 20:26

It's the queue jumping of NHS clerical /admin/workers that foxed me.
I thought, like many folk , that full on clinicians were queue jumping ( and rightly so) only to discover , from friends at our local hospital that actual clinicians just joined the queue like everyone but it was non clinicians who were foisting their lanyards at supermarkets etc demanding to be let in.
It was really embarrassing, apparently.

underneaththeash · 23/11/2021 20:29

That's bizarre. Why would you do it for free?

I'd contact the app and get them to remove you from that algorithm.

LagunaBubbles · 23/11/2021 20:33

Not all n h s staff have been impacted by Covid, only those in I C U or H D U

Haha what a load of shit I love idiotic posts like this as it just shows how stupid or ignorant people really are. Love to see how you would have coped in acute in patient psychiatry last year!

Fudgein · 23/11/2021 20:40

Yay another NHS bashing thread.
Anyone who asks for free childcare is a CF regardless of their occupation.
I am surprised to learn nhs staff get 'loads of free stuff'
I know not one person who queue jumped, not one. ICU workers have had a horrendous time, so have community workers, porters, paramedics, domestic staff & especially carers. Now that people are not as frightened of covid people mock nhs workers saying we had nothing to do & it wasn't that bad. Most people I know, whilst grateful to still have a job were terrified when we were basically told we were facing an unknown that could potentially kill us and our families. I feel absolutely sorry for people who have lost their jobs & their health/family. I absolutely do. But now that people think covid is 'just a flu' the treatment of healthcare staff is honestly appalling. I'm not asking to be treated like a hero but I would like to be treated with a bit of respect. This isn't aimed at anyone in particular but it's so disheartening to do your best every day and have these kinds of comments thrown around daily as if we have all been having a lovely time Confused

TractorAndHeadphones · 23/11/2021 20:42

YANBU!
Also r.e NHS discount - it’s a huge employer so plenty of places offer discounts the same way they might with any other discount program. It’s certainly not usually to thank anybody for their heroic service.

fiftiesmum · 23/11/2021 20:44

If my children still needed care I wouldn't expect discounts because of my NHS job (I would have just been grateful for child care that could cover the odd long shift or weekend shifts)

EllaVaNight · 23/11/2021 20:47

I am surprised to learn nhs staff get 'loads of free stuff' Really? It's well documented. Us carers weren't even mentioned u til the 11th covid meeting. We got a badge which we had to pay for. I'm not saying it wasn't touch for the NHS. It's been tough for many with no perks and people actively looking down on social care. GP, district nurses etc refused to come to care homes when needed. We were accused of lying about being covid free and had to forward months of negative tests as we never had an outbreak. It was and is, disgusting.

Original poster
Newintown123 · 23/11/2021 20:48

It’s certainly not all staff impacted and even if they are/ were does it mean that nannies should work for free? I think not. We still have to make a living.

OP posts:
SaturdaySummer · 23/11/2021 20:50

@Newintown123

I am a professional career nanny and have recently signed up to use bubble babysitting. I have received a barrage of job requests from NHS staff asking for free sits- some as long as 10 hours a day. A recent request required 10 hrs per day for 10 weeks- for FREE

AIBU- considering many nannies have had their hours reduced/ made redundant since an increasing number of parents are WFH

Think they forget about all of the other key workers who worked all through the pandemic too and had zero recognition. NHS staff also get lots of discounts in shops etc. Which others don't which I also think it unfair. I think they provide an amazing service but are not the only ones
rc22 · 23/11/2021 20:54

It's absolutely reasonable for NHS workers to take advantage of discounts where they are offered/advertised but a friend who works for the NHS asks for a discount everywhere she goes. I want the ground to swallow me up when she does it when we are together!!

TractorAndHeadphones · 23/11/2021 20:56

@Fudgein

Yay another NHS bashing thread. Anyone who asks for free childcare is a CF regardless of their occupation. I am surprised to learn nhs staff get 'loads of free stuff' I know not one person who queue jumped, not one. ICU workers have had a horrendous time, so have community workers, porters, paramedics, domestic staff & especially carers. Now that people are not as frightened of covid people mock nhs workers saying we had nothing to do & it wasn't that bad. Most people I know, whilst grateful to still have a job were terrified when we were basically told we were facing an unknown that could potentially kill us and our families. I feel absolutely sorry for people who have lost their jobs & their health/family. I absolutely do. But now that people think covid is 'just a flu' the treatment of healthcare staff is honestly appalling. I'm not asking to be treated like a hero but I would like to be treated with a bit of respect. This isn't aimed at anyone in particular but it's so disheartening to do your best every day and have these kinds of comments thrown around daily as if we have all been having a lovely time Confused
What role are you in? The complaints I’ve heard are mostly directed towards people who didn’t have much to do during the pandemic because of things being suspended. Like diagnostic spécialists. People were redeployed but not Everywhere
Reviewer123456 · 23/11/2021 20:58

Unfortunately due to COVID there are a lot of NHS staff taking the piss. I heard overheard some one at a small pop up craft market asking for discount and flashing their NHS staff ID for all the hard work through COVID. Their behaviour was shameful.

Reviewer123456 · 23/11/2021 21:01

@Fudgein

Yay another NHS bashing thread. Anyone who asks for free childcare is a CF regardless of their occupation. I am surprised to learn nhs staff get 'loads of free stuff' I know not one person who queue jumped, not one. ICU workers have had a horrendous time, so have community workers, porters, paramedics, domestic staff & especially carers. Now that people are not as frightened of covid people mock nhs workers saying we had nothing to do & it wasn't that bad. Most people I know, whilst grateful to still have a job were terrified when we were basically told we were facing an unknown that could potentially kill us and our families. I feel absolutely sorry for people who have lost their jobs & their health/family. I absolutely do. But now that people think covid is 'just a flu' the treatment of healthcare staff is honestly appalling. I'm not asking to be treated like a hero but I would like to be treated with a bit of respect. This isn't aimed at anyone in particular but it's so disheartening to do your best every day and have these kinds of comments thrown around daily as if we have all been having a lovely time Confused
You are missing the point OP is making, it was not an attack on NHS staff.
Rupertpenrysmistress · 23/11/2021 21:01

Great post @fudgein another chance to bash NHS staff. It is clearly offering the service to NHS staff for free where is the cf in that? Personally I didn't take up any offers for free it does not sit right for me. The freebies were a thank you for the fact we were still going to work without PPE facing a virus killing health professionals whilst others got to stay at home. All of the NHS and care sector has been impacted by covid, I was drafted into ITU with zero experience I was terrified but at least I got full PPE. The research now shows in a hospital setting, it was ward staff most at risk from covid due to having little or no protection.
What do we have to bash everyone. Just say no. How many NHS staff have asked this of you? I don't know any NHS staff I worked with who got free child care.

TractorAndHeadphones · 23/11/2021 21:03

@rc22

It's absolutely reasonable for NHS workers to take advantage of discounts where they are offered/advertised but a friend who works for the NHS asks for a discount everywhere she goes. I want the ground to swallow me up when she does it when we are together!!
How is this different from using any other employee reward program though? Or a student discount It’s embarrassing if she insists on one when not available but nothing wrong in asking 😎
JetRocket · 23/11/2021 21:07

Why the hell would NHS staff expect free baby sitting? They aren’t working for free themselves!

We are an NHS family with two small children and I’ve honestly never heard anything so cheeky in my life. Never knew it was a thing.

Sprostongreen21 · 23/11/2021 21:10

Why has a question about a nanny job turned into another NHS bashing thread?

  1. I don’t work in ICU/HDU. I’ve dealt with covid patients all the way through and my whole way of working has changed. Even staff that have no covid contact have had big changes/impact. Some of you have no idea!
  1. Some take the piss with discounts. I don’t even own a blue light card. Not all NHS staff earn a fortune many support workers like care assistants and porters are barely on much more than minimum wage. NHS wouldn’t run without admin and back room staff also lower paid. I would not begrudge them a discount just like a student or veteran when offered.

3 @Newintown123 contact the agency and remove yourself off any free lists. Ten hours childcare for free is bonkers!

fiasco2021111 · 23/11/2021 21:26

Honestly makes me cringe when NHS or any key worker say they are key workers still and ask for freebies or a heavy discount. My manager still does it! I work in the NHS and never used my card for discount or to cut the queue made me so uncomfortable.

fiasco2021111 · 23/11/2021 21:31

@becarefulouttheretoday

Thing about 'NHS staff' is that it includes all the admin/support functions. Some of whom have had it hard but I know others who have been wfh and not at risk at all and yet they get lumped in with the hero practitioners on the frontline.
In my place of work it was the Gps who went home the moment we went into lockdown and wfh, and all admin/reception staff had to come in as normal. We only had wipes to clean our work space.
Tabbacus · 23/11/2021 21:32

@Newintown123

It’s certainly not all staff impacted and even if they are/ were does it mean that nannies should work for free? I think not. We still have to make a living.
No you shouldn't, but some have volunteered, and bubble also sends their requests to people who haven't said they're happy to do it for free. As has been said several times now in this thread.
fiasco2021111 · 23/11/2021 21:34

@DroopyClematis

It's the queue jumping of NHS clerical /admin/workers that foxed me. I thought, like many folk , that full on clinicians were queue jumping ( and rightly so) only to discover , from friends at our local hospital that actual clinicians just joined the queue like everyone but it was non clinicians who were foisting their lanyards at supermarkets etc demanding to be let in. It was really embarrassing, apparently.
Well some who worked in surgeries had to carry on going to work and deal with the backlash while the Gps ran as quick as they could home as soon as lockdown was announced and wfh. Like I said previously it always made me cringe when I seen people use their lanyard to queue jump or get discount I never used mine but the the fact you've made about clerical/admin not deserving was untrue as in my case.
speckledcat · 23/11/2021 21:42

@TractorAndHeadphones

Interesting POV. I work in diagnostics and apart from a couple of weeks we were very much working right through the pandemic. Reduced numbers of scans yes to allow for cleaning and social distancing but all face to face. We were classed as at high risk of covid and sent messages from Public Health England to that effect. Who do you think took all the chest x rays looking for covid when GPs weren't seeing patients? Radiographers did. All that happened is we did not have the usual 250 plus scans per modality waiting to be reported due to a mismatch between scanning and reporting capcity as they were more balanced.

OverTheRubicon · 23/11/2021 21:49

This is because loads of people who are either dodgy or in terrible financial straits (often despite being on decent incomes) sign up for these kind of schemes.

I have a family full of nurses and they rarely take advantage of the NHS benefits that they could, because they felt embarrassed or just didn't have time due to working non stop. Plenty of people in back office admin roles, however, who did not shut up about it throughout covid, used took key worker spots at school when their partners were furloughed, and would absolutely have snapped up those bubble spots if they'd heard about them...

OverTheRubicon · 23/11/2021 21:50

(and before the many back office NHS admin people on MN flame me... Appreciate this is Not All Admins. But think that the very small minority of NHS CFs tends not to be in actual frontline staff)

Mummatron3000 · 23/11/2021 21:55

100% agree with the comment that NHS staff have stable employment with steady income, absolutely no need to ask for free stuff! Mega cheeky IMO (I am NHS employee)