The chief nurse at Nottingham's hospitals has criticised Conservative MP Michael Fabricant after he said nurses would go for a 'quiet drink' in the staff room during the coronavirus pandemic. The representative for Lichfield made the comments in an interview after Boris Johnson was fined for breaking his own lockdown rules.
"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 staff room and have a quiet drink," he told BBC News on Tuesday, April 12. This was met with anger by members of the public and medical professionals, including Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) chief nurse Michell Rhodes who called him a "bloody idiot".
In response to a clip of the interview, she tweeted: "I try really really hard as a chief nurse in an acute trust not to get involved with the politics but really, nurses and teachers drinking in the staff rooms? B****y idiot."
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Mr Fabricant's comments also prompted the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to complain, saying they were "demoralising and factually incorrect". General secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said that nurses and nursing support staff would, after finishing well past the end of their shifts, "get home, clean their uniforms, shower and collapse into bed" rather than "have a quiet one in the staff room".
"It is utterly demoralising - and factually incorrect - to hear you suggest that our diligent, safety critical profession, can reasonably be compared to any elected official breaking the law, at any time," she wrote.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, British Medical Association council chair, 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 the reality in our health service for an MP to draw a parallel between flagrant rule-breaking and the diligence, compassion and professionalism of healthcare workers.”
