A few months ago, when the coronavirus outbreak still retained some of its novelty, the introduction of the 8pm Thursday night 'Clap for our Carers' stood out as a shining beacon of humanity and support in a world which was starting to seem very dark. What better way to show our appreciation for the heroes of the NHS and other such life saving organisations than standing on our doorsteps and declaring it to the entire neighbourhood? However the founder of this movement Annemarie Plas said last month that it would be the right thing to bring it to an end on its 10th week, marking a 'beautiful' end to the movement. Now it should be the turn of the government to do its duty by our most prized national treasure.
And Ms Plas would be right. Yet this government have consistently failed to provide for the institution that right now we need the most. The slogan 'Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives' smacks just a little bit of hypocrisy when one considers the desparate lack of nurses in our hospital wards, a direct result of the Tory scrapping of the nursing bursary in 2015 in favour of a loan (although there are now plans to introduce a new grant). Not to mention how much harder it will be for EU workers to come and fill the gaps, as they have been doing for decades, once Brexit is in full force. Before this outbreak we were approximately 43,000 nurses short, a situation which cannot have been improved by coronavirus. Our front line workers have been inadequately tested and protected, in spite of Boris's mantra and we have fewer hospital beds per capita than other hard hit European countries like Spain - can we expect staying at home and clapping once a week to fix this problem? Apparently so if the Tories get their way.
To the majority of the population this was never what the weekly clap was about. It was about a shared experience and the ability to demonstrate gratitude and empathy. All of us have or know someone who has received excellent quality care at their time of need thanks to our glorious NHS - for many of us their hospitals were where we first entered the world. But as the weeks have turned into months and normal life still has not resumed, it may well be the time to put aside harmonious illusions of a perfectly functioning health service and address the many ways it has been let down. The shortages our NHS faces will not disappear as soon as the pandemic does - Priti Patel's plans for a points based immigration system threaten an infrastructure already at breaking point, as it moves to block low paid workers from coming into this country. Those very same workers that care for our elderly, keep our hospitals clean and its patients and staff well fed, and have stopped this country from entirely falling apart as 600,000 lost their jobs. And instead of thanking them, our government would slam the door in their faces.
To make the clap for our carers an annual tradition, as has been suggested, would be a poignant reminder each year of the extraordinary sacrifices that were made by ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. But we cannot expect this to right all the wrongs that this outbreak has brought firmly into the light. A public appreciation of our key workers is a wonderful token of gratitude, but right now they need more than just tokens. They need the people in charge to care about them as much as the people on the street - and we need definitive action to show them we definitely do care. And not just so it will be a nice video on our Instagram stories.
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