Should NHS staff still be able to jump the queue? Woman complains staff were ‘rude and sharp’ when she used her pass to get priority service at the supermarket – but critics claim she’s ‘self-entitled’
- British woman said she’s been skipping supermarket queues with an NHS badge
- Posting on Mumsnet, explained staff have been rude and shoppers give looks
- Many responses argued healthcare workers should no longer have priority
An NHS employee has sparked a debate over whether healthcare workers should still be able to skip queues at supermarkets – after claiming staff were ‘rude and sharp’ during her most recent attempt.
Writing anonymously on UK-based online forum Mumsnet, the woman explained she has used her NHS badge on a few occasions to avoid waiting in long supermarket queues.
She went on to say that despite signs advertising NHS employees as priority, shop staff have been rude when she asked about queue jumping, while shoppers waiting to go in the store have given her ‘looks.’
But while some took to the comments section to argue that ‘it’s back to normal now’ and to ‘suck it up,’ others agreed that skipping the queue is reasonable considering the nature of the job carried out by such key workers.
A British woman sparked a heated debate about supermarkets giving NHS workers priority entrance. Pictured: A social distance queue in London (stock image)
Posting on Mumsnet, the woman explained supermarket staff have been rude when she tries to jump the queue using her NHS badge
Venting her concerns, the woman wrote: ‘As a lot of people are back to work now, what do you think about NHS staff queue jumping now?
‘I’m NHS and have used the queue jump a few times – as the shops I’ve been to have advertised it – when the queue has been ridiculously long and I don’t have the time to wait in it, especially when you don’t know if the store has what you’re looking for.’
However, she went on to say that on two occasions she has experienced staff who have been ‘rude and sharp’ about it – despite there being signs saying, ‘NHS priority queue.’
She continued: ‘You can see the looks from people in the queue. I don’t know why they advertise it if they’re going to be snotty if you ask to use the service they are advertising.
‘Recently I’ve been going where I need as early as possible to beat the queues, but that’s not always the case. As most people are back to work now not just NHS staff do you still think it’s appropriate to use badge to jump the queue?’
A stream of responses argued NHS staff should no longer be given queue jumping privileges.
One person wrote: ‘The situation was different in March and April when staff were being called to the frontline to deal with increased cases of Covid. But now, things are a lot better, so the people still jumping queues are being very self-entitled.’
A stream of responses to the thread argued NHS staff should no longer be given priority entrance because most people have returned to work and there isn’t a shortage of food (pictured)
A second commented: ‘There are no longer food shortages and if you really don’t want to queue, click and collect/delivery slots are now widely available.
‘My dad is a doctor and my mum a nurse, they go to the supermarket on their days off just like everyone else as they find the whole queue jumping thing embarrassing.’
However, others argued they wouldn’t complain if NHS workers want to continue skipping supermarket queues.
‘Ignore the snotty people,’ commented one. ‘Seriously what is wrong with folk. The virus is still out there and as far as I’m concerned, with the mental stresses that NHS staff have experienced both being greater exposed to the virus and treating patients with the virus, then as far as I’m concerned you can queue jump as much as you want.’
Another commented: ‘The government has more or less confirmed there won’t be pay rises for NHS staff and soon everyone will be back to criticising you and heading to A&E with a broken finger.
‘Why not take advantage of something before no one cares anymore and it’s the same old relentless c*** at work with zero perks.’
Meanwhile, a further wrote: ‘I think it depends if you are a doctor/ nurse/ cleaner doing all the overtime you can crack on. If you are a support role such as receptionist in a doctors or IT department etc, then you are taking the P*** a bit’
Other responses agreed NHS staff should continue to be given priority entrance to supermarkets because they aren’t being given any other perks from the government