Thursday, 28th May 2020
Was a clap really enough?
This evening marks the last of the nationwide ‘claps for carers’. A moment when, at eight o’clock, people were encouraged to applaud the country’s healthcare workers for all their efforts during the pandemic.
But, I wonder, who was this really aimed at? Why are prepared, for example, to criticise the NHS, almost on an annual basis, when waiting lists lengthen and queues in accident and emergency departments start rising but then to immediately forget that criticism in a heartbeat?
What would be a better way of thanking those who turned up, when the rest of us were confined to our homes?
- Better pay and conditions for all public sector workers
- Proper training courses that are completely funded by the state
- All the necessary equipment, ready to be used by those who need it
- Lessons learnt and people held to account for poor decisions
We will, inevitably, have some memorials and way of national remembrance: we are good at that in this country. But, if we really want to honour those who, and I hate the terminology of war, fought on the front lines, we need to do something that means, if we ever find ourselves in this situation again, those lives lost were not in vein.
And we need to stop moaning every winter.
Absolutely, Nick.
A cheeky but, though, what’s wrong with moaning a winter moan?