I’m a GP so not exactly frontline (although I will say it hasn’t at all been anything like the walk in the park that many seem to think it has been for GPs either).
I really try hard not to judge people. Sure I will point out where they are making what I would see as unwise decisions regarding their health and offer support to change but it’s unhelpful to judge and everyone has their own individual life struggles which impact upon people’s decisions anyway. I once met a heroin addict in her 20s. Her mother had started giving her heroin at the age of 7 😮 How could I judge her for being an addict now?
Of course it’s hard to be completely impartial when dealing with a known murderer or rapist or paedophile or domestic abuse perpetrator I grant you. But they are also entitled to medical care in a humane society such as ours, and often have had their own very troubled backgrounds which although not excusing their crimes does go some way towards explaining it. Plus how do we know this person is not the victim of a miscarriage of justice - rare but it definitely happens even in the UK.
When it comes to COVID I think we all know deep down that a viral pandemic is nobody’s fault and it’s silly to throw blame around in general. Having said that, I personally hold this government hugely more responsible than the general public for the shitshow that has been COVID in the UK. And the general public has mostly been way more compliant than anyone ever anticipated they would be. I saw an article today where an ITU consultant was moaning that people were drinking outside a takeaway/temporary outdoor bar and saying she had to fight her way through a whole “fifteen” people to get to the hairdresser as she wanted a trim before tier 4 kicked in... I’m thinking a. 15 people outdoors isn’t exactly huge hordes and b. she is still going out to get her hair cut when she knows it will be banned tomorrow... Yes there is an element of selfishness in those who flagrantly disobey the rules as it may impact on other people but I do think we have to give some credence to human nature and the fact that we have all been coping with this since March now, and seeing other countries deal with things so much better while we remain under endless lockdown because things aren’t put in place properly at the end of lockdowns and they aren’t used to get a handle on track and trace, close borders etc.
I think the reason we are seeing this narrative is 1. Because the government much prefers the public to be blaming each other and not them so they are deliberately feeding this narrative. This was made very clear to me when Hancock started telling people that too many people are selfishly going for a COVID test in September and there was a sudden deliberate confusing of what to do if you have a cough if it’s “just a cold” which I think was unforgivable messaging. And 2. Because NHS staff especially on the frontline are burned out, exhausted, demoralised, traumatised and in many cases I think they have genuinely reached the stage of just lashing out all round mixed with begging in desperation as they just can’t take it any more. Many many NHS staff privately very squarely blame the government but it’s surprisingly hard to get the message out there that the government are really to blame here. And there is a surprising amount of people still defending them.
We are currently in crisis mode (again) so the government is asking NHS staff to ask people to not be selfish, think of others and stay home, and in the current moment this is the right message to try to calm the situation down. But this government should never have let things get so out of control again after the summer. And I don’t trust them not to squander the opportunities of this curren all but lockdown too sadly. I do have hope with the vaccine though that life will be more normal by the summer and will be better than now by spring.
Of course I don’t want people throwing huge house parties etc. But who are we at this point to say that at the individual level seeing a friend illegally one day might not prevent that person’s suicide etc. How can we blame people for looking out for their mental health sensibly? We just have to look after our patients as best we can and trust that the huge majority of people are actually making huge sacrifices to do the right thing and there will always be some selfish bastards about which can’t really be helped, but even selfish bastards don’t deserve to die in a pandemic if they can be saved.