‘Yes, Minister’ predicted the Nightingale Hospitals farce in 1981
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the Nightingale hospitals – those rapidly fitted out extra-capacity buildings that sprang up during the first wave of coronavirus – were being decommissioned.
Owen Jones summed up the situation.
The Nightingale hospitals – built at vast expense – were a PR stunt by a government which has driven the NHS into the ground.
There isn't the staff to operate them – because the Conservatives caused a staffing crisis – and they're now being dismantled as the NHS is overwhelmed. pic.twitter.com/2mXM9CK02B
— Owen Jones 🌹 (@OwenJones84) December 28, 2020
Twitter’s favourite Boris Johnson parody was on the case.
Don't think of it as dismantling a hospital, think of it as dismantling a cynical PR exercise that has now served its purpose. pic.twitter.com/kUT6O5ZnAW
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) December 29, 2020
"We built seven Nightingale hospitals by mistake"#NightingaleHospitals pic.twitter.com/Ue2DIQullF
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) December 29, 2020
He wasn’t the only person with thoughts on the enormous waste of money and resources.
What a disgraceful failure.
Like so much this government does the Nightingale hospitals were just an expensive PR stunt.
Just when we need them most this January there are no staff to operate them because of the NHS staffing crisis the Tories created over the last decade. pic.twitter.com/dWpbh0v0IC
— 🌈 Angela Rayner 🌈 (@AngelaRayner) December 28, 2020
They did their job, which is to say ‘they reassured Conservative voters that something was being done.’ https://t.co/XwBk9O2m52
— Michael Moran (@TheMichaelMoran) December 29, 2020
how it started how its going pic.twitter.com/070KierYvz
— dave ❄️ 🥕 🧻 (@davemacladd) December 28, 2020
People need to stop fretting about the #NightingaleHospitals or the current rate of infection and our capacity to cope with it.
We only need to make it to Friday and then £350 million pounds will be pumped into the NHS every single week.
— Macca (@McB00merang) December 29, 2020
But the whole story will have come as no surprise to fans of the political sitcom, Yes, Minister, which explained the situation way back in 1981.
Yes Minister foresaw the Nightingale Hospital situation years ago. #NightingaleHospitals
Clip via @NoContextPMQ pic.twitter.com/lUbJ9wk5ul— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) December 29, 2020
Some things never change. Here’s a suggestion from writer Jonathan Coe.
Perhaps, every so often, we should take a minute or two out of our busy schedules and find a quiet space to pause, reflect, and ask ourselves what the actual fuck is going on in this raving madhouse of a country. pic.twitter.com/XUGrtMlsaN
— Jonathan Coe (@jonathancoe) December 29, 2020
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This mash-up of BBC News and Yes, Minister perfectly nails the state we’re in
Source Parody Boris Johnson Image Screengrab, Screengrab
