UKH

3 days ago - The Daily Mirror today launches a campaign to give all the brave NHS staff and volunteers helping to battle the coronavirus a medal.

I think giving them a decent wage to live on would be a much better option.

NHS. I salute you.

Cheers and pass it on to all the amazing staff. The porters who always chat to the scared and bring humanity to a sterile place , the nurses , radiographers, lab staff, canteen staff etc. 
 It’s tough. Especially if your pressure valve is climbing and outdoor spaces . As a front line consultant I can say your praise is well deserved by the knackered staff. 
let’s look forward to a great late summer ! 

... this country is obsessed with handing out 'gongs'... I'm not, for one minute, suggesting those on the front line in this current crisis are not worthy of some kind of recognition... but a medal... oh please...  this quaint, British, or should that be English, tradition of pinning medals on folk should be consigned to the dustbin of history; and anyway, it has been utterly devalued in recent years...

... paying those who care for us a proper wage, including those that work in the NHS and, as importantly, those that work in the care system, as well as providing proper and sustainable funding and investment in these public services going forward is what is really required here...

Apart from better pay through taxation.. perhaps a one off bonus for all customer facing nhs staff; nurses, cleaners, receptionist.. the lot. Say £500 or £1000/head, it's peanuts overall and they can have a well deserved holiday when this settles down. 

... yep, I agree absolutely... 

Absolutely nothing Martin.  I apologise for upsetting you by adding it to the wrong subject forum.  

Quite a lot, really. Indirectly perhaps. 

Nothing at all, so it is in the correct place.

Dave

I think NHS staff would much prefer to have some PPE. Now.

In all fairness, mate, the blokes who've got gongs have generally put in some hard graft - thinking OSM or GSM etc. Wouldn't say they are waste of time or 'devaluated'...

I think they'd treat them like I treat my old running medals, the ones everybody gets at the finish: hang them on a coat peg, then into the "man drawer." 

Quite a lot of health workers are rock climbers? 

Medals - no, ridiculous. 

Hero's - no not really, just doing the job that they have signed up and trained for. 

This does not mean that we are not very grateful however, but it does distracts from the real issue which is: 

Better pay, conditions, resources, recruitment and hours - absolutely!  NHS staff (along with teachers) have been undervalued and under resourced for far too long.  This needs to change.

Yes give them a huge chunk of money but don't forget all the other essential workers that are not nhs but are keeping things going to they should get a big pay out but not as much as the heros and heroines of our greatest institution the NHS. 

But since stupid English keep voting in Tories all they will get is some worthless trinket from some privileged aristocrat and a pat on the head. 

I'd argue defined heroism?

Many nhs staff are returning from retirement, different fields etc.. to work in roles exposed to covid19 continually, over exposure to the virus has killed healthcare workers globally already. If workers are knowingly placing themselves at risk in an effort to help and save others, what is not heroic about that? 

It would be nice to think when this is over that we can take a reflective look at all roles that we now consider to be important to our society and fund them appropriately. 

And perhaps a bit less for those who have previously received a huge proportion of the wealth. Those lucky enough to be the first to develop disruptive technologies, those inheriting great wealth, those endowed with sporting talent.

As for medals or honours, i'm not sure. I have a few medals and the idea of dying for a bit of ribbon is abhorrent compared to dying for something you truly believe in.

I don't think that I deserve a medal. I can't speak for anybody else but my view is that medals are for people that show true bravery in adversity such as a battle field or the unarmed people, including police armed with sticks, taking on terrorists in London believing that they are facing individuals with suicide vests and certain death trying to defend fellow citizens.

I agree. It's just a job that pays my mortgage. I'm not belittling the job as it is very humbling at the moment when strangers start clapping as I drive past as I know that I do make a difference in a small way. I am a small cog in a very big wheel. I just hope that I do my bit and don't let my mates down on the day when the going gets arse twitchy.

Can't argue there, but the world is all about market forces and this will never change. I am just grateful to have a job and a roof over my head for the last decade of austerity. Getting to drive a company van like I stole it, every day, just puts a smile on my face.

The world was all about market forces, all of sudden folk are evaluating, hopefully this will change some priorities in society afterwards. 

You have just summed up the reasons why my grandfather never collected his RAF medals from WW2 'it was my job, why should I get a medal for  just doing my normal job?'

I can think of lots of reasons why NHS  staff do deserve medals, but that is a question for the future. Infact I find it in bad taste that a paper is calling for medals before we even start to see the real hard work as the NHS reaches capacity. 

Edit: and thankyou to you all, your hard work is appreciated and I believe should be rewarded with improved pay and reduced working hours. 

I tore past a copper through a red on the wrong side of the road yesterday. He smiled and gave me a wave. I still can't get used to that. Mental.

What about a commemorative 50 pence piece instead of a medal?

700 million of them a week should do the trick.

So it was you that ram raided the gate to Stanhope Dene on Friday night?!?

My wife is a doctor - whilst she is really grateful for all of the "free meal to NHS workers" etc going round at the moment, she still has her job security and thinks that this sort of generosity should would be better targeted towards people who have lost their jobs and are really struggling right now to make ends meet.

Medals schmedals. How about free parking for NHS staff at the hospital they work at?

For a start.

I agree F*CK medals give them a proper pay rise. possibly back dated ten years!!!

Perhaps they meant "tokens"?

This raises a tricky subject.  I am so very grateful to all the bods doing their stuff in the NHS - the people working directly with Covid patients show a determination and dedication to professionalism that is truly something to be proud of.  I would also like to add to them the other workers in the background, the support staff (who may never even meet a patient) that enable the NHS machine to do it's stuff.  Do they all deserve medals?  Who knows, though my feeling is they certainly deserve recognition.

And then we get the non-NHS workers who still engage with face to face stuff with patients.  No medals or national recognition forthcoming there.  I'm far from alone with this, but my story is that I left the NHS (I worked in CAMHS) a few years ago as it was a service that was not fit for purpose and my conscience wouldn't allow me to continue.  I now work privately, on less money with no job security, but able to do the work that is required.  I am currently flat out, and have been since the outbreak started.  My work involves support and providing therapeutic work with suicidal teenagers and other family members - this takes place wherever works best for said patient who is very much on the edge.  Yes, I get exposed to Covid risk, but hopefully I'm saving lives.  I don't get any PPE, any preferential treatment, medals etc or promise of a pay rise.  Equally, as  I said, I'm not alone - there is a small army of people out there keeping the population going who don't have the magic NHS badge yet carry on doing equally valid work with patients.  Please spare some recognition and appreciation for them, the government isn't.

 For instance DWP processing claims 24 hours rolling day and nightshifts I don’t think they’re answering the phone overnight but they are working 

 And let’s remember anybody under 25K per annum is a non-skilled worker  But of course theres no health staff and under 25K or DWP

Presumably the Mirror's campaign is primarily intended to draw the nation's attention to how bravely the Mirror is publicising itself. And so it can put government spokespeople on the spot, per yesterday's briefing, hoping they'll slip and wearily pooh-pooh the idea, allowing the Mirror to froth 'Government Doesn't Think NHS Staff Worthy of Medal!'

Putting yourselves into the 'line of fire' of Cov-19 with limited PPE protection counts as bravery to me. The NHS already has a growing 'casualty' list and still you support us all. 

Again. Thank you.

I've a better idea. Cancel all the student debt of NHS nurses.

Teachers do alright 

The 'front-line' prefix has seems to have been dropped recently. I have utmost praise for all of those staff in hospitals, GP surgeries, pharmacies etc. dealing with the public face to face, putting themselves and their families at much greater risk than the general population.

But those middle managers pushing pens around in their offices, I'm not sure they deserve as much respect. 

So how does that work? A newly qualified nurse with thousands to pay back over their career Vs a nurse of 20 years who's already paid back thousands... 

Depends on whether you want to have a front line nursing workforce in five years time. At the moment there are plenty asking themselves if it's worth the risk?

I'm impressed by the staff in my local Sainsburys. 

They're exposed to pretty much everyone who isn't yet showing symptoms, have no PPE, but are re-packing shelves, manning tills and generally getting on with what are considered quite crappy jobs.  All that and ZERO chance of receiving the hero-worship of NHS, military or other professions mobilised in the pandemic.

If I'd done 20 years only to see new recruits let off to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds, I'd be reviewing my current state of employment too! What a smack in the mouth that'd be. 

Just woke up for my mid-night wee wee before going back to bed. I'll tell you about true bravery from non NHS staff that are invisible. At our local hospital there is an Isolation Area where doctors and nurses busy themselves in PPE attending to possible Covid cases which have not yet been confirmed, and I am quite reluctant to pop my head in to hand over the paperwork.

In my eyes they are not the actual hero's. Nope, my nomination goes to the invisible cleaner mopping up around them all protected in the flimsyest of masks that I know that they have, ahem, acquired. They are not NHS staff but they have a front row seat to the shitshow at Ground Zero for less pay than the NHS cleaners.

Now, in my eyes, that is a real bonafide unsung hero invisible to society just getting on with it to put food on the table. And I know that individual is exceptionally anxious about what they are doing and the gravity of the conciwuences of working in the room because they are no spring chicken either.

I'm off to sleep now before I go back to work and greet them again on the night shift.

Apologies for my lumping paramedics and emergency medical technicians in 'etc.' in my previous post. 

No shortage of PPE; nothing to see here, move along...

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/31/nhs-staff-gagged-over-coron...

Just woken up from my set of five and had a little read of your article

youtube.com/watch?v=Oz8RjPAD2Jk&

and here is a link that contradicts those views

youtube.com/watch?v=b_7e1jNBaSI&