The Lionization Of The NHS
Lionize | to make someone or something famous, or to treat someone like they are famous.
28th May 2020, 8pm. The last ‘clap for NHS’ stopped, as it was started, by suggestion from Annemarie Plas. I breathe a sigh of relief; I was getting bit tired of it, but afraid to voice this to anyone. Afraid to say, that on a list of people who I would put at the front of the queue, they were not at the top!
The NHS do some amazing things, in fact as I sit here writing this my father is in his local hospital after having a stent fitted following a heart attack today. Three weeks ago, he was there with a previous episode of chest pains that was diagnosed as pleurisy. So why am I still sitting here bemoaning the lionization of the NHS? Do they not deserve the applause? Should they not go to the front of the queue? After all, they are at the ‘coal-face’ of this pandemic, exposing themselves day in day out to this virus.
I cannot deny the courage that it must take to tend to the personal care of someone who is infected with the covid-19 virus, to handle bloods and other body fluids: it must be terrifying. I have, in previous careers, worked in the NHS and in the care industry. Its hard work, and for the NHS, massively underfunded and under resourced. I cannot imagine what they were going though, especially when stocks of PPE were so low, or in some cases, non-existent. However, do they need applause? Was it helpful? Did it raise morale at least?
I would answer no to all three. The NHS does not need applause, it needs money and resources. To have people clapping may seem sweet, but it can land on deaf ears if the working conditions are so poor, they are risking their lives just to attend work. As for raising morale, I am in touch with several previous NHS colleagues and while some thought it was ‘a nice gesture’, others found it cheesy; for some a sense of entitlement followed. ‘But you must…xyz… because I am an NHS worker!’
Many companies joined in saying that NHS workers can jump the queue at their stores and get served first. The intent was so that they can manage their shopping around their shifts and carry on ‘saving the country’. But what about the other key workers that are saving the country?
Who is keeping the water running, the electricity on, the internet connected, collecting the refuse and recycling? Now that is another service at the coal face, not everyone is tidy when disposing of their waste; workers may be coming into contact with broken rubbish bags that can contain a multitude of things (including discarded face masks), that have been sat there at ambient temperatures for at least a week.
Key workers were given a passing nod for the weekly Thursday night applause, but I don’t remember seeing any rainbows with nuclear power plant workers or the refuse and recycling collectors being singled out for thanks. Do we not value these services?
When looking at just a small part of the list of key workers, and the impact that they have on the smooth running of our society, who would you put of the front of the queue?
The power plant workers, including nuclear, who keep the lights on and prevent power plants ‘going Chernobyl’?
How about the water authority workers who keep clean water pumped into our homes?
Perhaps the recycle and refuse collectors who help up prevent infestations of rodents by clearing away waste efficiently and effectively?
Maybe the Supermarket workers who work face to face with all of us, and did so with no protection at all at the start of this pandemic?
What about the Logistics workers, parcel deliveries and postal workers who deliver food and other essential supplies around the country?
The communication workers who keep the internet on so you kids can home school and you can chill out with Netfix? (and read this article 😉)
HMRC and the banking systems for money to keep moving between the above and the payment of benefits, including furlough payments.
Can we manage without Funeral directors and those who manage the bodies of the deceased?
Or the Medical and Pharma (drugs and medications) production companies?
The NHS who are there when you need them (for emergencies at least), and other care establishments. Who should have that spot at the front of the queue?
The above list is not exhaustive but gives an idea of the complexity of how we manage society, and how each area leans on another. We need clean water, without this we all would perish, we need drugs manufactured, and these drugs delivered, along with other essential supplies like food. Refuse needs removing and disposing of, as do the deceased, many infections would follow if these were not attended to. Communications services are needed to manage and arrange these services, and for any of it to work, to keep all the above going we need a steady supply of power.
So many services rely on each other, you simply cannot single one out. You can pop each one of these in a rainbow and stick it on your window. No one is a celebrity; no single service is any more special than the next. We can just simply, and quietly, appreciate that we are all in this together.
Written by Helen Heggadon
I am Age 49 (and ¾, too close to the big 5 0) and I live in Devon with my husband. I work as a Customer Care Advisor in a call centre for a large telecoms company, and as a Project Manager - ad hoc hours for a friend who is developing a wellness service. I am a member of Toastmasters International (public speaking group) in my spare time, through which I have participated in club and area contests, and helped run a workshop on public speaking to the Tilney Group. When I was younger, I wrote poetry more as a means of communication than anything else. I have never had any proper training for poetry, or any other kind of writing - aside from what you get in high school. I love writing, reading, and getting to know people. I have lived a varied life with many different experiences. I hope I can express them well enough here to be interesting, funny, or enlightening.