NHS Workers: Can't They Catch a Break?

- Articles

First Published: Newsletter 12/05/20
Author: Samuel C
Youtube Audio: here
Soundcloud Audio: here

‘Well, Piers is right.’ Doesn’t that always leave a horrible taste in the mouth?

A few weeks back, the Good Morning Britain (GMB) host made an assertive statement to those who were criticising NHS workers for posting videos on TikTok of them dancing while at work. ‘Get a life’, he wrote, and perhaps he is not far off the mark. It is an abysmal reflection of our anti-worker culture when underpaid medical workers, who are essentially fighting a war on the frontlines, can be criticised so bitterly for having five minutes of fun. Strange, that it would come from someone such as Piers.

There are those whose family members are stuck in hospitals, and have found themselves ‘p*ssed off’ by what looks like a lack of care on behalf of NHS staff, and I have my sympathies for them. But, do we not think that our NHS workers, who have already dedicated so much of their time to helping us, would really put your loved ones at risk? Can we suspend our critical attitudes for one moment, and appreciate that the staff are only trying to alleviate some of the mental torture this ordeal has brought them?

If you want to be angry, be angry at our government, who have failed to implement plans or provide enough resources to deal with the pandemic, being too preoccupied as they were with Brexit, elections, and eroding our public services with austerity. Be angry at the UK’s mismanagement of the crisis, which could lead us to have one of the worst death rates in the whole of Europe. Be angry at the treatment of regular NHS workers, who are losing their lives in their effort to save ours, the same workers whose pay has been consistently declining for years.

If there is anyone who is taking too much time off, then it is our own Prime Minister. He had already been labelled the ‘part-time PM’ for sneaking away to his country resort at Chequers during the floods, but has now been deemed ‘missing in action’ for skipping five cobra meetings in a lead up to a global pandemic. A five-minute TikTok video pales in comparison to Boris’ deadly oversight.

So if anyone has failed, it is our incompetant leader and government, not our dedicated, overworked and underpaid healthcare workers.

Our NHS has had the axe of privatisation hanging over its head since the days of Thatcher, and will continue to after this crisis. Do not give in to the anti-worker culture of the elites, who only stand to gain from the demise of our public services. Stand with these working people, like yourselves, who are currently facing the biggest challenge of their lives.