By
Paul Cranston and Francesca Gan 
As we enter the festive season, we decided to track the online conversation of healthcare professionals (HCPs) to find out what they want for Christmas this year. Whilst all Mariah Carey wanted for Christmas was you, HCPs had much loftier aspirations, with political change and public safety during the pandemic being at the top of their Christmas wish list.
As 25 December draws ever nearer, the number of HCPs posting about what they would like for Christmas has gradually increased. Politics and Covid-19 have remained underlying themes throughout, with the rest of HCP posts being an eclectic mix of sincere Christmas wishes.
Some of the more serious wishes from HCPs included appeals for better funded healthcare services, the passing of key legislation, and some wishing for changes in political leadership.
All I want for Christmas is a fully publicly funded and delivered NHS.
— Graham Kramer (@KramerGraham) November 23, 2021
.@SenatorSinema @Sen_JoeManchin All I want for Christmas is for you to ensure passage of #BuildBackBetterAct AND #FreedomToVoteAct, both highly supported by majority of voters in your states & across the country. Do the right thing! pic.twitter.com/acLC5d8aWt
— Judith Fardig (@FardigJudith) November 24, 2021
Others chose to share their hopes that the new omicron variant of COVID-19 would not be as severe as expected. However, many were not optimistic that this wish would be fulfilled.
There cannot be a single soul in the #NHS praying for one simple #Christmas present
“Let #Omicron please NOT evade vaccines”
That’s all I want for Christmas
We all wait. And hope.
— Partha Kar 🇮🇳 🇬🇧🎥🏏🐶 (@parthaskar) November 29, 2021
All I want for Christmas🎄… is for #Omicron to turn out to be as mild as the common cold—I’m praying and hoping this to be so. But hope is not a plan—realistically, #Omicron wave🌊 is going to be bad. Planning for a surge in hospitalizations & boosting now is the safest course. https://t.co/DqnnvC7q0X
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 13, 2021
Whilst some of these wishes may leave St. Nicholas thinking that he really should have clarified his remit in terms of the gifts he could bring at Christmas, other HCPs asked Father Christmas for things that felt far more attainable.
Like a nap.
People keep asking me what I want for Christmas and all I can answer is that I want a nap. A big, long, uninterrupted by kids, nap. Then I might be able to answer that question 😂🙏
— Dr Kate Miller (@DrKate_Miller) December 4, 2021
Or being taken off a car sales call list.
All I want for Christmas is to be taken off of the extended car warranty call list. 🤷🏻♂️
— Suds (@sudsy911) December 12, 2021
Or getting verified on twitter – best of luck Jesse!
All I want for Christmas is a blue checkmark @verified
— Jesse Morse, MD (@DrJesseMorse) November 21, 2021
However, perhaps the most fitting and festive ‘all I want for Christmas’ message could be found in the second most shared post among HCPs over the period analysed. 16 HCPs retweeted this simple post from @iam_chocc.
All I want for Christmas is for God to continue making my life better💖
— 🦋 (@iam_chocc) December 7, 2021
From all of us at CREATION.co, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
