Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Helping the NHS in hour of need
Exhausted and heroic NHS workers have been given a boost this week by the introduction of dedicated shopping hours. Across Kent, supermarkets have stepped up to the plate and allowed healthcare staff priority slots to pick up essentials as panic buyers continue to strip shelves bare.
It comes after the big chains faced calls to extend ‘golden hours’ given to the elderly and the vulnerable to NHS staff - many of them on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus. M&S and Tesco were the first to offer allocated slots, with Sainsbury’s following suit not long after.
‘When you finish work and come at the end of the day, there’s hardly anything left behind’
It was at the latter’s store in Canterbury that huge queues arrived before it opened especially at 7.30am on Monday. Among those waiting to go in was worn-out vascular surgeon Lal Senaratne, who had come straight from the city’s hospital after a 65-hour shift. “I started on Friday evening at 6pm and I’ve just finished now,” the 57-year-old said. “When you finish work and come at the end of the day, there’s hardly anything left behind – so the fact they’ve opened it up to us is very useful.”
Sainsbury’s had originally allocated healthcare workers and the elderly the same slot from 8am-9am, but the hours were amended after concerns were raised about the groups shopping together.
NHS staff and social care workers now have priority shopping from 7.30am-8am from Monday to Saturday.
Canterbury Health Centre GP Joe Molony shopped at the city store on Monday, telling how he has struggled to squeeze visiting the shops in between his hectic schedule.
“I don’t have the time at the moment,” he explained. “I’m busy trying to reorganise schedules, phoning patients, putting systems in place, ordering protective equipment for my staff, putting in management to start wiping door handles and manage expectations.
“This is good. It means I’m going to get to work on time today and I’m not spending my time running around looking for
half-a-dozen eggs.” Hannah Walker, the practice manager of Park Surgery in Herne Bay, also purchased a bag of groceries.
She said the dedicated slots mean she has been able to stock up on, among other things, raspberries, which are given to children who require covert medication.
“It’s a really testing time because everyone’s really scared and we haven’t got the right protective equipment,” she added.
“We have been working flat out.
“We’re open from 8am until 8pm, so to be able to stop off on my way in is just fantastic.”