NHS WORKERS BLAST TORIES
HEALTHCARE workers have condemned comments from an MP suggesting that they had a “quiet drink” in the staffroom after a long day, as he defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Partygate.
On Tuesday, Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant told BBC News that he did not think Mr Johnson knew that he was breaking the law.
“I don’t think at any time he thought he was breaking the law... he thought just like many teachers and nurses who after a very long shift would go back to the staffroom and have a quiet drink,” Mr Fabricant said.
One nurse, whose petition calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation has had 300,000 signatures, said: “While members of this government were partying and drinking, we were at the coalface, saving people’s lives. It was a horrible time. We weren’t thinking about partying. We were just missing our families. It was so stressful and there was nothing we could do to make things better.”
Matthew Tovey, a nurse from Merthyr Tydfil, started a petition on change.org calling on both politicians to quit.
“I do not believe that anyone who breaks the law should be allowed to remain Prime Minister or Chancellor. At the same time that No.10 were partying in the Downing Street gardens, I was working 12-hour shifts in the NHS – in full PPE – in the corridors of hospitals that had started to resemble battlefields.
“In May 2020, my colleagues and I were struggling to save lives. There were too many patients and nowhere near enough staff. Boris Johnson has said that Downing Street was full of “people working phenomenally hard under phenomenal strain”.
“I do not believe that in 2020 their jobs were more stressful than our jobs, on the front lines. I do not understand why this means they were allowed to break the rules whilst myself, and my colleagues, worked hard to keep people safe.”
Caryl Wyn Jacob, 23, a nurse at Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen, said: “I qualified in February 2021, which was at the peak of the pandemic. The extra pressure of being a newly qualified nurse on top of Covid was quite stressful and having to do a 13-hour shift, with full PPE, while being short-staffed was difficult. Working on a Covid ward was stressful. I wasn’t able to do the things that I would normally be able to do to relax, like spending time with friends and family, so my physical and mental health wasn’t great. But I had to overcome this and I had to prioritise my patients’ needs. I’d go for long walks and talk with my colleagues and we supported each other through difficult times.
“I think as a Prime Minister you should obey the laws that you create. With Boris not complying with these laws, I find it’s unprofessional and very selfish. Everyone in the NHS has been working tirelessly, working 50+ hours a week, to provide care for the ill and vulnerable. Whilst people in Parliament have been drinking and dancing – it’s atrocious. I couldn’t even see my own mother when she was in hospital with Covid. I personally think Boris should resign and we need a new leader that can appreciate the NHS staff and obey their own rules.”
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the council of the BMA, said: “Doctors and their colleagues will be incensed to hear their names being used to defend the rule-breaking of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. Throughout the pandemic doctors, nurses and all healthcare staff, after exhausting days, many in full PPE and dealing with some of the most harrowing experiences of their careers, were doing all they could to protect themselves, their patients and their loved ones. Some stayed away from home, or kept themselves apart from their partners and children in their households, desperately putting their families’ safety ahead of their own wellbeing as they coped with the greatest professional challenge of their lives. Much like the vast majority of the public, they had no difficulty understanding and complying with the law, driven by their duty to keep everyone safe. It’s disgraceful and deeply out of touch with reality for an MP to draw a parallel between flagrant rule-breaking and the diligence, compassion and professionalism of healthcare workers.”