There but for the grace of God, go I.

Well, there was much to reflect upon last week. For example, the recent news of the grotesque and unplanned profits announced by both Shell and BP appeared to, quite rightly, get a backlash from folk. Possibly because not only were the sums astounding, but they were also a direct result of international turbulence and conflict and not a planned business success. These obscene profits were literally a windfall gift for Shell and BP. The backlash focused upon how the wealth of a few had increased, while most of us continued to struggle with the ever increasing cost of living. The current cost of living crisis is partly caused by high household energy costs; costs which are likely to rise for the majority of us yet again in March.

The war in Ukraine has been said to be at the root cause of these cost of living problems. Today is day 354 of this dreadful war, with no resolution in sight. Indeed, with the call for the West to supply fighter jets to Ukraine, there is a sense that things are set to escalate even further. My sincere hope is that collectively the West continues to stand with the Ukrainian people until such time as this senseless conflict is over. I don’t believe that we cannot do so. Like others, I continue to practically support the Ukrainian people, and keep all those impacted by the war in my thoughts and prayers.

The continued industrial action across the public sector in the UK seems similarly intractable, with no resolution in sight. I try to avoid overtly making political statements in this blog, but I do think the apparent intransigence from government does not bode well for anyone, least of all the Conservative party. Sooner or later people will have to get around a table and start to negotiate a way forward. Indeed, in Wales, Scotland and some parts of England, local agreements appear to be taking shape, so why not across the wider public sector. I’m not an economist but I do know that for every 1% added to the UK public sector pay bill, it costs the country around £2.5 billion. Sounds a lot I know, but let us not forget that the current government spent more on unusable PPE than it would have taken to double the salary of every nurse working in England. And please don’t talk to me about the £30 billion cost to the UK of the disastrous Liz Truss mini budget.

I know I shouldn’t, but I get really frustrated and angrier every day when I see no resolution in sight for my nursing and allied health and social care colleagues. The industrial action is clearly hurting some nursing colleagues who lose a day’s salary for every day they are on strike. Some will inevitably find it difficult to keep up their strike action. I guess other forms of industrial action will be contemplated. Likewise, the industrial action is having a negative impact on reducing the historically high waiting lists. As I have said before, waiting lists are not simply numbers on a spreadsheet; they represent real people affected by the long waits for a diagnosis or treatment. Some will not get their needs met in a timely way and will suffer avoidable harm. Some may even die unnecessarily. As I write this blog, I can’t find the numbers of possible avoidable deaths in England, but the latest Office of National Statistics data shows a steadily increasing non-Covid related death rate. Currently it’s a death rate higher than the last 5 years’ average.

Of course, worrying as these events and occurrences are, they are all eclipsed by the awful, desperate situation in Turkey and Syria, following last week’s earthquake. This morning I read that well over 28,000 people have died. It is a death toll almost too difficult to comprehend. The pictures filling our screens have been simply horrific and so painful. 

I have to admit to my sadness filling my eyes and spilling down my cheeks when I saw the picture of Mesut Hancer holding the hand of his 15 year old daughter Irmak last week. She had died in the earthquake, asleep in her bed. The photograph, taken by Adem Altan, captured her father sitting by her still trapped body, holding her hand. The pain and despair seen in his face were almost unimaginable.  

Mesut’s sorrow and anguish has been replicated across many parts of Turkey and Syria. Indeed, across the world, relatives of those caught up by the earthquake have shown their disbelief and pain at what has happened to those they love back in Turkey and Syria. The fact that death came so suddenly and terribly while most people were sleeping adds to the trauma being experienced. I cannot imagine the sense of loss so many people, families and communities will be going through.

The sad situation being faced by so many in Turkey and Syria, make me realise how much I have to be grateful for. The war in Ukraine made me realise how much I (we possibly) take for granted. Likewise, this tragedy reinforces how fragile and vulnerable our very existence might be. I have said it before and I will keep on saying it. We are here one time. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring. We should try and live each and every day to the full. Although difficult to achieve at times, we perhaps should try and make every moment count. Likewise, let’s do all we can, however small an act, to try and make a difference to all those who find themselves impacted through war, poverty, natural disaster, illness and trauma. It could be any one of us tomorrow.