People need to stop knitting and donating chocolate etc our hospital!

[AuntyClockWise]

I was drafted in to help nursing staff today sort through 300 (yes, really) Easter eggs that have been donated over the past few weeks and sort these for food banks and care homes and childcare hubs. Took half a day plus lots of storage space.

A lady turned up at the hospital with 30 home made/sewn face masks. She was very angry when the main desk had to turn her away and decline the items as apparently she'd spent ages on them and had travelled a long way to get them to the hospital. Again, more time spent dealing with this person and not to mention the fact she had travelled unnecessarily.

Where has this idea come from for people to donate so much stuff to hospitals? Don't people realise that PPE has to meet a certain level of safety standard so we need to get from reliable and tested companies? Do people think that we have the space and time to deal with all the food and drinks donated?

Our hospital has put out a facebook post today to reiterate we can't accept donations like these and there are now hundreds of angry responses calling us ungrateful and that they're annoyed this wasn't said sooner as they've spent weeks knitting and sewing various things for the nurses and doctors to use on the wards.

I'm sure people are trying to be nice but why isn't common sense prevailing? Why not donate time and energy to a place which has the resources and ability to accept such donations?

Of course, I'm only able to speak for common feelings shared today in my place of work. Some other people here might say they are loving the donations.

Just wanted to suggest on here that if you are considering donating something to your local hospital, I'd suggest phoning the main desk first or sending them an email as the likelihood is that they can't accept it.

The lack of ppe is an absolute disgrace. It was right that this was made public. Gvt still lying about this.

Lack of PPE is an enormous issue and we are constantly hearing about it which is why some people think they are doing good when they are not. Nhs nurses making videos of themselves crying they can't get food is why people are donating food.NHS nurses posting videos of themselves crying about how they hadn't had time to buy their kids Easter eggs is why people donated eggs. Simple really stop making videos or accepting things that army needed

Arnt needed

Simple really - don’t assume someone saying they can’t get their kids Easter eggs means the entire NHS is short of Easter eggs and needs a massive delivery of Easter eggs to be made to the hospital.

Any crying videos need to be stopped, not just related to covid imo

We should definitely NOT be gagging NHS staff. If they do not have adequate PPE, we need to know about it. Very, very dangerous what you're suggesting. Remember the whistleblower in China?

A lot aren't posting about the lack of PPE though (which would be understandable, and we shouldn't be censoring that I agree), but about foodstuffs etc.

It's not always in response to "begging" by NHS staff anyway. Quite a few posts on my Facebook from entrepreneurs wanting people to contribute money to buy "NHS Heroes" whatever it is they sell - cupcakes, handcreams etc. Maybe those things are appreciated but there is no real way to tell. Certainly the person selling is not going to report back if they were not.

It's never just one nurse crying saying she can't get her kids easter eggs in such and such area its always us and we collectively. Nhs staff can't get this nhs staff can't get that that's the message crying videos send out and people want to help. I haven't donated eggs to hospitals but I can see why people have. If the hospital op was talking about managed to send away the woman with hand sewn masks I'm sure they could have sent away people with Easter eggs

I can't get sanitizer for my job which is handling a lot of potentially contaminated stock and neither can my colleagues but we wouldn't dream of making a video crying about it online or on tv. That's why all donations go to NHS.

Also I can't get pasta or flour at the moment and won't make a video crying about that either

I work in a major supermarket and we can't get sanitizer either. Don't have time to eat on lunch breaks because by the time I've washed my hands got money and queued my breaks over as its like Xmas on the shop floor, Would love a free pizza or Chinese if the NHS don't want it but people don't realise the problems ALL other keyworkers have because we don't make crying videos or Facebook posts. Stop the few nurses from doing that and unwanted donations will go down.

Yes @Tonz completely agree. Bus drivers could make videos crying about face masks and people will direct their hand made one's there and be gratefully accepted. Do u have a face masks at work? Just asking cos I saw a scary video of how far over 2 aisles covid can spread with one cough. People picking thing up and dumping them again potentially contaminating them. I've been in various supermarkets and the abuse toward staff shocked me the anger some people direct at staff who are not to blame is horrible

In fairness, the OP said the reason dealing with 300 eggs took so long is because they were identifying other areas that would appreciate them, sanitising them and handing them over. Blame the twerpy egg donators for not bothering to check who may actually appreciate them, not the poor NHS staff having to use up their time to identify and contribute to other key workers.

The message is - don't donate to give yourself a warm wee glow. Find out if and where you can contribute anything useful, otherwise your virtue hit is just creating more work.

The op also said they sent away a woman with hand sewn masks because they aren't needed so why not do the same with egg donate if the hospital accept these things then people think they want them.
@Groundedbyboris no we don't have any type of protection at all except screens on checkouts but customers load the belt on one end and pay on the other so the screen in the middle is just for show. It is scary because anyone could be carrying covid and some customers still can't do the 2 metre distance and are up in our faces but we understand nhs need PPE before us of course they do. What I would give for a hand sewn mask right now though. The abuse isn't so bad our management and security are quick to defend us

With regards to the issue of supermarket workers not being able to get some items too, I totally agree, I was chatting to our checkout operator a few weekends ago. She said she was living with her husband who isn’t very well and so she is solely responsible for getting food shopping for them, she was say early-mid 60’s and said she was working 5 long shifts a week from very early in the morning. By the time she had finished her shift she said most essentials were missing from the shelves and Morrison’s policy was that their own staff weren’t allowed to shop before their shift starts!

The supermarket I work in don't let us shop till the end of our shift either *@MrsWhites*then send us out to queue with everyone else but we are just grateful to still be earning money when so many people arnt

If located in London people could consider passing cloth face masks onto London Underground stations and train depots. We had a handful donated to our depot (not enough for all as we have 100 frontline staff) but those who received one were grateful.

Also I just came back from my local pharmacy and they had had dominos pizzas brought in by someone. They were over the moon!

*@Impropriety * This is where the problem lies. All the media and Facebook posts are directed to what NHS nurses need when there are other workers who also need help. No I'm not blaming all nurses for that but that is what is happening.
Brilliant about the pharmacy getting pizza as well I'd imagine it would be difficult to queue outside shops trying to buy lunch during a break

Tonz - it seems to me the problem lies in people having knee jerk reactions to make themselves feel better and feel a little bit useful without putting too much in the way of independent thought into it. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that one nurse crying on Facebook is just one nurse, not a spokeswoman for the NHS asking for the people of Britain to give nurses Easter eggs. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that home made face masks are not useful to hospital staff working with covid 19 patients. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that bus drivers, supermarket workers, delivery drivers, etc, might actually appreciate home made face masks a little bit more than hospital nurses. As for Easter eggs - it doesn’t take a genius to work out there never was a shortage of those anywhere at any point. But then far fewer people would be willing to donate their tinned tomatoes, hand sanitiser or pasta, would they?

It also doesn't take a genius to look back on this whole thread and see that most nurses were saying they appreciated there easter egg.
Doesn't take a genius to see that the only profession who are asking for handouts are nhs.
Doesn't take a genius to say no thanks we aren't accepting easter eggs instead of stockpiling them to the point it takes 16 hours to sort through them

I am still getting over 3 nurses and a HCA sorting eggs for hours, no one challenging the boss on the fact that there were buzzers going off that at least half of them should and could be going to which still left some to sort them. Lmao.

@Tonz yes it was lovely to get an egg, but I didn’t ask for one.

You seem to have a beef with nhs staff. I had a £2 egg- I enjoyed it, I was thankful, it made a horrible day a bit nicer. I’m sorry you have been given anything.

For what it’s worth pretty much everyone I work with has said how people who work in supermarkets / bus drivers etc need an acknowledgement.

I can't get over that either @Gruffawoah surely it would have been easier to say thanks but no thanks like they managed to do with the woman with the masks. And less risk to the patients who were buzzing away while 4 staff sorted through them. Seriously don't fucking take them just say no.
@Walkaround it wasn't one nurse crying on Facebook either it was a couple and a whole shift behind them on the news not fucking facebook. Genius

• you haven’t

@Pomegranatepompom 😂 no i haven't got beef with nhs staff at all I just don't get why a hospital would accept things in the first place when they don't want them then use 16 hours to sort through them. I'm also just pointing out that it's because of the crying videos people want to help and donate and its not fair to make fun of them for doing so. Some people are just trying to be nice that's all.
There's so many posts about not to assume all hospitals want these things but how about realising not all people donate for Facebook likes either