Nurses will be the ones running on empty

If the country is not careful, nurses will be the ones running on empty

Certain things have demonstrated the immense strength of society over the past 18 months, while others have unfortunately revealed its deep fragility

For example, at times, the Covid-19 pandemic has seen people pull together in so many ways to support and protect each other.

In contrast, others have brought out the worst in people and their behaviour. Notably, supermarket shelves were cleared of goods by panic buying back at the start of lockdown in March 2020, leaving nothing for essential workers after long shifts.

It sparked critical care nurse Dawn Bilbrough to make her impassioned plea to leave enough goods for everyone in a video that went viral on social media and was featured in the national media.

Now we find ourselves in the midst of a ‘fuel crisis’, which for once is nothing to do with Covid-19 but rather a lack of HGV drivers that means some garages are experiencing a shortage of supplies.

How this has suddenly transformed into panic buying, sparking long queues and waits at the pumps, the closure of some garage forecourts and fraying tempers and fisticuffs, all feels slightly surreal, unnecessary and quite frankly annoying.