Doctor ‘touched’ by ‘heartening’ NHS clapping as ‘we head into the storm’


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A doctor in London said the public’s applause for the NHS on Thursday night was a welcome boost “as we head into the storm”.

Up and down the country, members of the public put their hands together for NHS workers and others who have been battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Tom, 42, a consultant anaesthetist, heard the applause on his way home from work at a London hospital.

“It was really touching to hear the applause,” he told the PA news agency.

“We’re all so worried about whether we’re going to be able to be there for all the patients who are going to need us over the coming weeks and months, and knowing that the public have got our backs was much needed.

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“Hearing the clapping told us that people out there know how hard everyone has been working to get ahead of the coming surge as much as we can, and that has given us a boost – a reminder that there’s a world outside the frantic bubble of Covid-related work we’ve all been living in for weeks now.”

And Tom said that the effort made within the NHS to prepare for the task ahead has been “heartening to see.”

He said: “We’ve all been daunted by what we’ve seen happening in Italy, and in China before that, and knowing that it is heading this way.

“In a few weeks, we’ve completely changed some things in the NHS which previously would have taken months or years to get sorted out, and the sense of can-do and expediency from all the staff has been heartening to see.

“It’s really felt like a huge collective endeavour – all hands on deck as we head into the storm.”

But while NHS workers welcomed the applause, many pointed out that:

And as Francesca Martinez highlighted:

The applause for NHS workers across the country was moving, deserved and important. But this has to be combined with demands to ensure they have the resources they need to do for their job. And we must never forget the Conservative Party cheers when MPs voted against a pay rise for nurses and everything it has done to undermine and destroy the NHS.

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  • Show Comments

    1. I for one did not join the pantomime. The NHS front line staff have always and will always have my utmost respect. Along with other so called “low skill” employees. Less we forget the vast amount of peeps out there clapping, put a pencil mark supporting this self serving born to rule psychopaths. They have systematically destroyed our NHS and welfare systems to benefit there chums who then pour (OUR) money into the Tory machine “to carry on the good work.”
      Am I the only one horrified by the draconian freedom busting laws they have passed, seriously.

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