Kate Spicer (pictured) argues NHS staff shouldn’t be slammed for uploading videos of themselves dancing on TikTok
YES
By Kate Spicer
The first thing kids of surgeons say to each other is always, ‘You go to hospital on Christmas Day, right?’ Ocular, orthopedic, vascular . . . no matter their field, no family fun could start until Dad or Mum had done their Christmas ward round and we tagged along.
Dressed in red with a comedy beard, my dad, a paediatric surgeon, would walk the beds with his six children. He would gently consult at bedsides while doling out embarrassing Dad jokes. Some children were very poorly indeed, but everyone was bright and jolly. Why not? Being in hospital is bad enough without turning it into a misery parade.
Which is a long-winded way of saying of course NHS staff should be allowed to put together a little dance routine before their shift starts, or after it finishes, in order to post it on the social media app TikTok. They do a tough job and letting off steam together is important.
No one’s suggesting that, off-camera, patients are being ignored by medics performing choreographed dance moves. The dancing is about more than social media silliness. Last month, NHS staff at West Sussex Hospital filmed themselves singing and dancing along to Lady Gaga after they had cleaned an empty Covid-19 ward.
They described it as a way to ‘bless the room’ before new patients arrived. That might sound a bit New Age, but without levity of some kind, places where people are sick and dying can become suffused with stifling sadness.
Surely we’ve lost our great British sense of humour if we cannot see the life-affirming power of our key workers sharing the Stay At Home (sorry, I mean Stay Alert) message through a dance on TikTok.
It’s a tough job — letting off steam is important
The most widely criticised of these videos showed four paramedics carrying a CPR dummy as if to a funeral while dancing — in imitation of a Ghanaian video that had previously gone viral.
Kind of outrageous, but if anyone can do it, these workers at the sharp end of the crisis can. Did it offend me? Not one bit. Would it have if I had lost someone I loved? Who knows. It doesn’t appear to be grieving relatives who are most offended by the sight of NHS staff having a laugh. It’s the miserable mutterings of curmudgeons. Who doesn’t want a cheery human tending to them in the dark times of a hospital stay?
I’ve racked my brain for reasons why poorly paid NHS staff shouldn’t be seen to be enjoying their jobs and I can come up with only one. It might — no, definitely will — embarrass their kids.
NO
By Clare Foges
Clare Foges (pictured) claims it’s insensitive for NHS staff to film themselves dancing, when people are waiting for treatment
Welcome to Covid’s Got Talent! First up we have four paramedics performing a funny ‘coffin dance’, bouncing a CPR dummy over their heads as though they’re pallbearers for the latest victim of the virus.
Next up, the Met Police officer pulling hilarious pranks on other coppers. And for the grand finale: a score of nurses decked out in masks and gowns, bopping around in unison like dance group Diversity.
No, it’s not Simon Cowell’s latest pitch to ITV, but a series of videos on social media app TikTok that have recently gone viral. One astonishing clip was of nurses in a Devon hospital wearing face paint to perform the Haka — the traditional Maori war dance — knees bent, eyes bulging like the All Blacks before the World Cup final. ‘We hate you, germ!’ cried the ladies in blue.
I am deeply grateful to those risking their own health for others. I clap like a seal on Thursday nights. But please, can those posting these all-singing, all-dancing, all-japing videos stop?
Sure, those working on the frontline are under enormous pressure. They need to let off some steam.
Please leave TikTok to 14-year-olds in bedrooms
But that’s what hot baths and wine are for. These videos are not the right pressure valve. At a time when thousands are grieving or are awaiting hospital treatment, they are crass and insensitive.
The TikTokkers aren’t doing their colleagues any favours either. When police officers post silly clips and paramedics spend time choreographing dance routines, it creates the impression that frontline staff have aeons of time on their hands. The doctors working 14-hour days in intensive care units can’t be too chuffed to be tarred with this brush. Key workers are currently, quite rightly, held in very high esteem, but many more of these attention-seeking videos and the mood will sour.
More dangerously, videos of frontline workers having a jolly old time on the job may lead some members of the public to conclude that the crisis can’t be that bad after all.
Andy Warhol once declared that ‘in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes’. TikTok gives a burst of fame for 15 seconds — hence why it’s beloved of celeb-obsessed, fame-hungry teens. But key workers should be above all that.
In my opinion, anyone over the age of 18 should be advised to refrain from posting dances on TikTok for the sake of their own dignity.
To the police officers, nurses, doctors, paramedics: thank you for your service. But please, leave the TikTokking to 14-year-olds in their bedrooms.