Offering to help in the pandemic battle

I AM an ex-nurse and wanted to help with the mass vaccination programme. My thoughts...

This, dear friends is the PROBLEM WITH THE NHS!

If you don’t get your vaccination for another year or so you will understand why. There is an army of people like me, an ex-nurse, who want to help... who have given thousands of injections and are qualified and experienced in managing any associated problems.

I DO NOT need training in irrelevant nonsense including radicalisation, diversity and human rights, moving and handling and all the other nonsense which is expected of us thank you.

On the day you can show me the fire exits and tell me your fire policy.

We must do something to strip away all the excess layers and focus on what really matters. Matters relating to important things like vaccine, cold chain, vaccine storage and handling, anaphylaxis and infection control and PPE are about all that is needed.

This application process reduced me to tears last week and sharing this will help you understand why.

As a vaccinator, we will be in an environment supported by up-todate qualified medics and would always call for help in the event of patient collapse or conflict in any case.

My application process was through NHS professionals and their ghastly, faceless, nameless emails. None of them signed in a friendly manner by a real person with a NAME. No-one rang me to say ‘Hi! Thanks for your application.. how is it going?’

Did anyone even look at my application? I doubt it. It is like being in a big box... alone and isolated... like one of those escape rooms where it is just you and a computer with confusing messages about what to do next and how to access the training, but with none of the fun attached.

If there was a nice little twominute ‘friendly face’ welcome video that would help. I need to see and speak to people.

I have been taken under the wing of another agency in my area who are going to try and help me next week and have spoken to me on the phone and emailed me and want to support me. (That was so lovely) but I must be honest.. I am NOT PREPARED to waste another few days of time learning nonsense unless someone, with ONE IOTA OF INTELLIGENCE changes the rules and stops putting up huge barriers.

There is an army of us wishing to help fight this horrendous pandemic and return to the front line simply to inject people.

I am not applying to be a brain surgeon.

Moira Neal Ex- nurse