Two sorts of people......

[Jimk]

<snip remaining guff>

How would someone (who should be) working in a hospital bloods lab be "a risk to vulnerable patients" or any other patients?

[Jimk]

Wouldn't it just... who should it be sent to?

[Jimk]

I heard of someone who works in a regional hospital blood lab, "self isolating" & going to b&q for paint & wallpaper to do up the spare room.... Their partner did the same & was going to get the garden going...

I.e. treating it like 2 weeks free paid holiday...

I know the lower ranks of anywhere might not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, but FFS.... 5th biggest employer in the world isn't it? No bloody wonder....

[R D S]

A crisis really separates the wheat from the chaff, doesn't it?

A NHS worker I know is off work (effectively pulling a sickie), doesn't want to go out and risk her health. I wonder if she is enjoying all the discounts and benefits the NHS staff are getting lately.

Further she is demanding that her partner and son not leave the house either, despite both working in industries that are being encouraged to remain operative. So their employers have been told they aren't going to present for work.

They are all holed up in the house, ordering their shopping online (good job there are sill those brave enough to deliver that service), disinfecting their goods as they come in, and presumably hoping their jobs are still available when they deem it safe enough to emerge.

Keep calm and let everyone else deal with it.

[michael adams]

Indeed it does.

People who *do* actually go to work, if only occasionally and can thus can pull a sickey.

And others who clearly avoid work at all costs; and thus have no chance of ever being able to do so.

It's maybe no wonder you're so upset !

michael adams

..

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Actually, I'd find it hard to be in any way critical at the behaviour. Nobody who works for the nhs signed up to have their lives or those of their families put at risk did they? It is not like joining the army, after all. Brian

[R D S]

Indeed and very much fair enough, but when you consider 20000 retirees going back to work.... Two sorts of people....

[R D S]

Or if you prefer, three!

[Vir Campestris]

I would have thought that anybody who takes on a job that involves dealing with sick people would realise that there's a chance that some of them will be infectious.

Andy

[Tim+]

Who probably don?t have dependants and have made an elective choice to do so. Most NHS staff are effectively conscripts at the moment.

Tim

[mechanic]

But have the right to expect suitable PPE!

[Scott]

Video with time and date stamp would be very tempting.

[michael adams]

The purpose of self isolating in their case surely was to avoid any possibility of passing on the infection in the course of their work in the hospital; which could impact on already sick patients.

While not claiming any specialist knowledge I would have thought the bar for self-isolating in health professionals is a lot lower than that for ordinary members of the public i.e If they worked for B&Q themselves, then they'd probably be still be at work

Similarly if they infected people while shopping in B&Q then that would equally have been the fault of the latter for not maintaining social distancing and wearing adequate PPE.

michael adams

...

not infect

[Scott]

The instruction is for only essential journeys, or journeys by key workers. To interpret this as meaning essential journeys by non-key workers and frivolous journeys by key workers would certainly be creative. In any case, should NHS employees not be setting an example to others?

[michael adams]

No it isn't its basic common sense

If NHS workers who work in a regional hospital blood lab believe that they might pose a risk to vulnerable patients but not to members of the public who take sensible precautions, and if their busy work schedule ,means they otherwise have little time to do up their spare room or do a bit of gardening, both of which might need a trip to B&Q, then that seems perfectly sensible.

As the saying goes - Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.

In this case the rules are for the "obedience" of idiots who might otherwise expose themselves to the risk of infection by touching surfaces in public places and immediately sticking their fingers into their mouths or bumping into complete strangers who might immediately cough or sneeze all over them.

The "guidance" lies in appreciating the reasoning behind the rules and broadly following the reasoning - by not going around touching surfaces willy-nilly, and avoiding bumping into strangers in public places.

The fact that none of this would necessarily constitute a satisfactory defence in law is only of real concern to poor liars and people stupid enough to get caught.

Only if in this case, they go around B&Q wearing placards with

"I work for the NHS (Blood Laboratories) "

printed in large letters on them.

michael adams

...

[tabbypurr]

while that saying has a point it's far from generally true

everyone in fact

The virus lasts days on surfaces, so 'immediately' doesn't come into it. And touching the more vulnerable to infection areas is certainly not confined to idiots, afaik it's pretty much universal.

you don't need to bump into them nor be sneezed all over to catch this one

Is that the guidance?

and for good reason

It's also of concern to those of us who don't wish to unnecessarily endanger our or other peoples' lives

If anyone treats NHS workers as an example to follow I pity them. I know many do though.

NT

[michael adams]

Walking past patients on their way to their laboratory.

There are many more patients in and around hospitals than just the ones lying in beds in the wards.

michael adams

...

[michael adams]

Well yes. But its much less likely to happen, the more time people spend at home.

That's the point of all this. The more time people spend at home the less opportunities they have to do stupid or at least inadvisable things in public.

So its beholden on people who wish to flout the specific rules to familiarise themselves thoroughly with "all" the advice being given, the science behind it and to act accordingly. This of course also includes not recklessly putting others at risk as well.

There are things called PCC's, pedestrian controlled crossings,

The things with the button.

Some PCC's are positioned alongside traffic lights at crossroads of major roads with traffic 24/7.

It doesn't really take the brains of Albert Einstein to work out that pushing the button in this instance will have no effect as the traffic lights are governed by the traffic flows on the major roads and will change soon enough without prompting,

Around 80% of people push the button.

Some PPC's are positioned on major roads or outside stations with no junctions for 100's of yards. Around 90% of pedestrians push the button before looking up to check whether there is anything coming or not. If there is no traffic on the road around 45% will then walk across the road. While the other 45% will still wait until the light turns to red and the little green man appears

These are the sorts of people who should be staying at home as much as possible

michael adams

...

[Richard]

OOI, do you have a source for your stats?

[tabbypurr]

All people not involved in essential services should be staying at home for the most part. Those with delusions of intelligence are not excepted.

NT