To hate the whole NHS heroes mantra

[Whatsthepoint1234]

As the title says. I’m a nurse and to be quite honest the whole ‘nhs hero saves the day’ tripe really pisses me off. I’ve worked in healthcare since I left uni and the amount of useless colleagues I have who genuinely don’t give a shit about patients annoys me. My ds is disabled and the attitude of some staff towards him has been disgusting. I think as nhs workers some of us are good and some bad and we don’t need worshipping.

I'm nhs and I agree...i'd rather have a pay rise more than 5% any day than pointless platitudes.

I don’t think the general public view nhs staff as heroes at all. I have worked in the nhs since the late 90s and think we are increasingly viewed with contempt. Theres an ‘anything goes’ attitude in terms of how people think they can speak and act towards staff members. The number of staff I personally know who have been assaulted is not insignificant. I still believe in the nhs, despite its difficulties but it can be a hard place to work.

YANBU at all.

My very good friend has just reached an out of court settlement after a hospital treated her so badly she is disfigured and traumatised for life - they tried to cover it up. The bollocks 8pm COVID clap really didn’t consider people like her.

What so you mean you’d rather have a meaningful token of appreciation than people banging pans on a Thursday?! Colour me shocked 🤣

YANBU.

HCPs are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

Honestly my general experience of the NHS has been of people perfectly benign and helpful but who also appeared largely uninterested in their work and their patients. I’ve never really gotten on board with the idea that healthcare staff are Jesus reincarnated so it’s never really bothered me, as long as their going through the motions approach actually solves my medical problem; but I’ve long been curious as to the sort of experiences others have which they want to rapturously sing the praises about.

I have nothing but respect for most HCPs that I have come into contact with but it doesn’t follow from that that I believe the NHS is beyond reproach or works as it should do.

And as much as I want to keep the NHS and invest in it, it does irritate me that any criticism of it or any suggestion that there may be better ways to fund it tends to lead to accusations that you are a Tory. I wish we could talk about it like adults.

I don’t think anyone generally thinks it, although people were appreciative of front line staff in Covid for doing the job (even if they weren’t all brilliant.)

I’ve mostly had good NHS experiences, allowing for stretched resources, but that’s true of many industries I interact with.

I always thought the saucepan banging would end up being a disaster for the NHS.

Oh I thought we dropped that nonsense when Covid positives declined?
Of course you’re right.
I don’t know anyone in real life who has this view - just memes on the internet!

This. All my interactions with the NHS have been fine. Mainly because I have very low expectations, so everything running 30 mins behind schedule is seemingly ok, and any element of customer service is none existent.

The individuals I’ve dealt with have been perfectly pleasant and done their job to an ok standard, but I’ve never had an experience I’ve come away and felt someone had really gone the extra mile.

I kind of agree, and tg Covid keyworker hero worship is over, although I’m generally appreciative and have had good experiences with healthcare staff but the whole protect NHS mantra is more worn to me.

Someone made me laugh on another thread saying the NHS peace be upon it

I think it’s BS. In a way used almost to validate our shocking pay and conditions because the viewpoint that it’s a ‘vocation’ should trump our right to fair pay.

What really gets my goat is the way that a woman's pain is minimised by HCPs.
I had a flexi-sig last year that was the most brutal experience of my life, to the point I wrote a letter of complaint. The reply from the doctor concerned was that in his and the nurse's opinion my pain score was a 2 - for me it was a 10. (I have fibromyalgia, and adhesions from endometriosis. In my day, I didn't have surgery, just hormonal treatment.)
I had a second flexi-sig as the first one was unsuccessful (due to me not being listened to about bowel prep), with sedation and then some fentanyl. The difference between them was night and day.
I'm still very angry about it - the only person that knows how bad the pain was is me.

Ironically I work on a surgical ward and I notice that our ladies tend to be much more stoic after procedures. I think a lot of doctors base their understanding of pain on the fuss someone visibly kicks up about it, invariably it tends to be men that do that more.

Its absolute garbage and I hate it, its my actual job and I get paid for it. I guess if I did it for free you could maybe start talking about "heroic" but otherwise pack it in.
I work in the NHS because its interesting, I earned a lot more in the private sector but it bored me senseless.

@vipersnest1 I hope your pain is better managed now 🙂

There are some extremely diligent, hard working and caring people in the NHS just like there are in many other professions and parts of life

There are some arseholes. Just like there are in other professions and parts of life

The difference is that we are often at our most vulnerable when we encounter and rely on the NHS workers so any failings or lack of care are much more dangerous and noticeable or impactful.

I agree. Sometimes people will say ‘thank you for all that you do’ when they find out what I do. I ask how they know I’m not a rubbish nurse.

Lockdown was embarrassing. I’m not ungrateful but other people were going through so much worse. All I had to do was go to work (and not see my children but still others went through worse).

@Whatsthepoint1234, I think you're right. I can't scream and didn't cry. It sounds dramatic but it felt like anal rape along with the awful rummaging around inside, plus pain. I couldn't even lay on my left side for weeks afterwards.
I know what you do is hugely stressful at times - my DSis is a senior nurse in another country (previously a nurse and then a midwife here in the UK) and admire you for what you do.

@Whatsthepoint1234, I shall see soon as I am due nerve blocks in my lumbar spine this week....

'I think it’s BS. In a way used almost to validate our shocking pay and conditions because the viewpoint that it’s a ‘vocation’ should trump our right to fair pay.'

Spot on. Claps and saucepan banging don't cost anything. 'Heroes' don't get burned out, pissed off, exhausted, don't have bills to pay, don't get treated like shit. I can't bear all this patronising bollocks (NHS worker of 20 years+)

Also fully agree with the OP that some NHS staff are utterly shite at their jobs, complacent, totally unempathetic and incompetent, and see patients as irritants to be tolerated at best

I’m nhs too and most of my colleagues are absolutely vile! Rotten apples. The amount of times I’ve reported concerns And it all gets brushed under the rug.

I think we are lucky to have the NHS however I have noticed that you get better results if you are well informed. I mean to say that if you turn up to a GP or hospital for yourself or a family member, accept what you are told then often you don't have the best outcome.

In short, it's very good that we have an nhs but if you read up, question the advice and make informed choices then it's much better. If you just turn up, blindly and accept what you are told then in my experience it's not great.

I am a big advocate of the NHS whilst recognising some significant structural and cultural change needs to happen to sustain it.

I also have a chronic condition that requires frequent outpatient clinics etc. I’ve met some genuinely lovely HCPs from consultants to nurses.

However I clapped once during COVID as felt pressured on that day by a neighbour as I was gardening when it happened. I think it’s weird.