Editor: Cracks are showing because foundations no longer solid

Exhausted, demoralised and with no end in sight. It is a sentence which could be used to described far too many, if not all, of our public services workers this summer.
Stock picture of a police officer on the beat to go with story about levels of fitness among Lancashire police officers 
Stock picture of a police officer on the beat to go with story about levels of fitness among Lancashire police officers
Stock picture of a police officer on the beat to go with story about levels of fitness among Lancashire police officers

Today’s front page warning about the situation being faced by police officers in our city is stark and one you will be well aware of if you happen to have friends or relatives who work for the force.

They have been flat out since the start of this pandemic and now, while many of us take our summer break, they are having to work harder than ever because so many officers are having to self-isolate.

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Friends have told me of teams that are dealing with far more cases than would normally be the case and thus, I have to argue, aren’t able to give any of them the time and attention they deserve.

It is an all too familiar picture – reflected most clearly by those who took on the Herculean task for dedicating themselves to our health service during the toughest times for generations.

Over-pinged, over-worked, over-needed and over-stretched. My heart goes out to everyone who does a job which can’t be done from home and who is suffering from fewer colleagues able to turn out than normal.

But let’s not beat around the bush here. This is not a situation created by the pandemic but exacerbated by it.

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These problems have been made by the deliberate undermining of public services and decades of cutbacks. Everybody who works in these areas knows it, in fact every single one of us knows it.

There is no slack in any of our systems and the price of saving pennies is now being paid.

When you strip things to the bone and then keep going, cracks will inevitably appear which simply aren’t fixable. Tragically, that strain is absorbed by those wonderful human beings who went into these careers to help others but now find themselves at the end of their tether.

Our police will get through these tough times because they are always there for us – no matter what. But should they have been put in this situation? Of course not but I fear those with the power to stop this nonsense and rebuild, either can't see the damage they are causing or simply don’t care.

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