NHS Christmas Parties

[Bobholll]

I know two nurses. Well actually I know more but these two have popped up on Facebook today. Both out having a ‘ward’ Christmas party in their local cities. Both is in restaurants, bars & clubs. About 10 people at each event. Not a spot of distancing or mask wearing among them.

I also know a couple doctors. They both had their work Christmas parties on Friday. Again, one was about 12 colleagues (doctors & nurses by the comments) all out in multiple bars. And the other about 20 people at one of those hotel Christmas events where you get a table, food, music etc.

Now I’m thrilled for them that they get to celebrate & have a lovely time. Honestly delighted. I can only imagine how shit it’s been the last couple years.. but the general public is being slammed for considering mixing with anyone indoors, let alone going out clubbing etc! I know so many cancelled parties (thankfully not mine, we got ours in early in December).. if those at the forefront of covid & how terrible it is can party on down, why is everyone else being told our actions are going to cause the NHS to collapse?! 😫

Now I’m thrilled for them that they get to celebrate & have a lovely time

Clearly not.

Ours went ahead last night. I was hoping it was going to be cancelled but it wasn’t. Our trust said it was up to individuals whether to carry on with Christmas party plans. I went, and tried to keep myself as safe as possible, I would hate my Christmas plans to be ruined. I felt pressurised to go tbh.

Good for them, they need to let their hair down and decompress.

What is wrong without having a Christmas party at the moment? After all it is Christmas, and you had one in "early December", what's the difference.

There are no official restrictions in place, pubs are open.... I don't see an issue.

Give them a break ffs

*with..not without

Same for my sister who wants to cancel Christmas as its too much of a risk for dm and thinks I'm being unreasonable to take my children to Santa's grotto with friends but at the same time her staff parties and nights out are perfectly fine.
The hypocrisy is shocking.

They are the ‘general public’, they deserve no more or less criticism for going out than anyone else. Personally I don’t think anyone deserves criticism for going out for their Christmas work do, but NHS staff are not a separate breed of human that have less need or right to have a party than everyone else.

but the general public is being slammed for considering mixing with anyone indoors

No, we're not.

Good for them. It should be the same for everyone. We shouldn’t be dictating to people what they can/can’t do based on their job or anything else. It’s time to allow people to get back to evaluating their own risks and making their own decisions.

Our main Christmas party was cancelled at the last minute but it was nearly allowed to go ahead, the main issue being the numbers that were going and the impact if we all got sick. But up until middle of last week the attitude from high up management was that it was OK as long as we had mitigations in place (everyone testing that day, exclusive use of the venue, reduced capacity, etc) as they recognised that it has been a tough couple of years and we need to relax and let our hair down. My smaller team meal out still went ahead, and helpfully we were actually at an outside table which will have helped reduce the risk. I don't think you can overestimate how hard its been recently with staff shortages on every shift, everyone getting stressed and burned out, and now seeing what is likely on the horizon.

The government said not to cancel Christmas parties.

If you're going to get pissed off at this shitshow, blame Johnson and his Tory cronies.

NHS staff are medical cannon fodder in the covid battle. Have a for criticising them instead of the TORY GOVERNMENT.

OP, do you think that health care professionals should make all the sacrifices in terms of work, their family life and social life to get us through the pandemic?

The government is responsible for setting the rules that protect public health. Currently the socialising your friends are doing is within the government guidance.

I think HCPs are more aware of the implications of social mixing currently, and for every party or night out that has gone ahead there will be plenty more that were cancelled or where individuals decided not to go. However, there is little fun in the NHS at the moment, and frankly I cant blame the small number whi decide they want a bit of fun with their colleagues. Coming to work is shit and morale is the lowest I've ever seen it.

I mean, they're together at work all day everyday, now they're getting together outside of work but still all together. They'll probably be sat together, talking to each other over glasses of wine instead of vials of blood and cups of coffee.

How about I edit the post for you OP.

I have been to my works Christmas party THIS MONTH.

2 of my friends are NHS nurses and were at their Christmas party last night.

I AM outraged by this as I AM a massive hypocrite

My NHS staff Xmas party went ahead. Dr's, nurses, management, admin. All in a small room, dancing, singing, laughing, drinking. No-one got ill.
If anyone deserves staff Xmas parties, it's the NHS! Should they also not go food shopping, send their kids to school and see their families?

@Whammyyammy

How about I edit the post for you OP.

I have been to my works Christmas party THIS MONTH.

2 of my friends are NHS nurses and were at their Christmas party last night.

I AM outraged by this as I AM a massive hypocrite

Nurses and doctors are members of the general public, they are not higher beings.

They had parties just like the rest of us. Teachers too.

My Trust has asked everyone to cancel their works parties. Don't know how many will adhere to it though. Ours was cancelled,in a local bar / restaurant.

I think the answer to that is people not slamming anyone else for enjoying their parties either. My work night out was on Thursday, it was great. I hope the NHS staff are enjoying theirs too. We’re all going to get this, be locked down, or both. If blowing off a bit of steam now is what makes people feel more able to get through the next few months then I’m glad they’re doing it. In some areas we’re a bit behind the curve and their isn’t actually much omicron about yet. Where I live we’re a couple of weeks behind London so better to do it now.

*there. Dammit.

I do see where you’re coming from actually. I’d rather there was no lockdown and don’t see why people can’t have Christmas parties and enjoy themselves. But the NHS is shouting about getting overwhelmed, staff shortages and advocating for lockdown, but still allowing staff parties to go ahead? That is a bit hypocritical.

I think anyone is fine to have parties. There are a subset of people on here who ARE criticising people for it though and saying "think of the NHS."

@Whammyyammy

How about I edit the post for you OP.

I have been to my works Christmas party THIS MONTH.

2 of my friends are NHS nurses and were at their Christmas party last night.

I AM outraged by this as I AM a massive hypocrite

Double We've had our night out cancelled, am awaiting similar posts as op's on the local fb pages denouncing nhs/school staff to have the temerity to have a life beyond work, a poster here said back in the early days of this shit 'if you can't do this job as the vocation it is you should LEAVE'. In response to people not being ultra keen to leave their family and live at work!

Well if you're spending 12 hours in a Covid Ward treating patients with (wait for it) Covid, I can't see how they're at any more risk of becoming ill from spending a couple of hours in the pub.

We’ve also a lot of us recently had our first or second bout of covid so pretty safe to be out!