Keep Smiling Through

Some ninety per cent of health workers in England seem to have weathered the pandemic, with all its added benefits such as the overwhelming workloads, the inadequacy of safety procedures, the lack of support from managers and the sniggering contempt of the Government, without considering suicide. Although one researcher for the University of Bristol's report on the matter was so tactless as to mention "structural issues around workforce and resources," it is likely that any lessons learned will be less crassly materialistic. The survey's chief investigator was prudent enough to emphasise positive colleague interactivity solutions over mere pay and conditions, and presumably an incoming Team Starmer government will be more than happy to let hospitals provide free mindfulness and meditation sessions for staff to attend during their copious spare time. Even as they stand today, no doubt the figures would have been still better had certain unpatriotic and backsliding elements not failed to join in the applause.