health and social care

Bristol is great, right? This city was named the “best place to live” in the UK by the Sunday Times in 2017, the best place for under 26s by The Independent in 2019, and Bristol districts like Easton and Old Market regularly win national accolades as the best/trendiest/coolest place in the UK to set up home.

The city exudes a progressive, green and tolerant vibe; 62% of Bristolians voted remain in the Brexit referendum, and all four of Bristol's parliamentary constituencies are held by the labour party, as is the city’s elected mayoral office. Bristol boasts Fairtrade City status and was named Green Capital of Europe in 2015. Newcomers to Bristol tend to see the city as a liberal paradise.

Applause is lauded at NHS workers; ideas for re-compensation; a daily service supplement; an increased hourly rate; even a medal for working during the pandemic. Many of us in the NHS work shifts - day and night - throughout the year. It is not just a virus that killing us, our shift work is too. The World Health Organisation declared in 2007 that shift work is probably carcinogenic (Straif et al 2007 #1). Studies such as Gu et al (2015 #2) have shown us that shift work, especially nights increases our risks of cardio vascular disease, mental health issues, lower immunity, cancer and ultimately our mortality.

Rather than working our life away for minimal financial compensation would we not rather have our life given back? Striking a better work / life balance: a reduced working week without being financially penalised.

Whatever happened to free market solutions? Since the dark days of Thatcherism, we have been told that the state is inefficient and things should be left to the free market. Yet here we are in the middle of the coronavirus crisis and free market solutions are nowhere to be seen. Instead, it has been the state that has been forced to step in and prevent the economy and society from collapsing amid the chaos of an out of control pandemic.

Care workers right now are facing a huge challenge. We were overworked, at risk and underpaid before Covid-19 came along. A lot of us are facing massive upheaval in our work and personal lives. Lockdown is stopping us from seeing our friends, family and colleagues, and the demands nowaced on the NHS, care homes and other workplaces have increased and changed rapidly. So now more than ever we are asking, what can we do?

What are we facing?

Some of the issues we are facing are new, and some are old problems exacerbated by the current crisis. The first one we are going to look at is the most common and well known right now.

PPE

It is well known by anyone who has ever worked in, or been around the social care system, how much employers in that sector try to exploit their staff and just how badly they treat them. Care workers have long felt they are viewed in low regard by both local authorities and the government, until recently being described by both local and national politicians as being ‘low skilled’. This has started to make headlines in the national press and get into the public consciousness and never has it been more apparent than during the current coronavirus crisis, where employers have shown a complete disregard for the safety of not only their workers, but also for the people who use their services.

Care Worker Organising in a Pandemic

Care workers right now are facing a huge challenge. We were overworked, at risk and underpaid before Covid-19 came along. A lot of us are facing massive upheaval in our work and personal lives. Lockdown is stopping us from seeing our friends, family and colleagues, and the demands now placed on the NHS, care homes and other workplaces have increased and changed rapidly. So now more than ever we are asking, what can we do?

What are we facing?

Some of the issues we are facing are new, and some are old problems exacerbated by the current crisis. The first one we are going to look at is the most common and well known right now.

PPE

Care Worker Organising in a Pandemic

Care workers right now are facing a huge challenge. We were overworked, at risk and underpaid before Covid-19 came along. A lot of us are facing massive upheaval in our work and personal lives. Lockdown is stopping us from seeing our friends, family and colleagues, and the demands now placed on the NHS, care homes and other workplaces have increased and changed rapidly. So now more than ever we are asking, what can we do?

What are we facing?

Some of the issues we are facing are new, and some are old problems exacerbated by the current crisis. The first one we are going to look at is the most common and well known right now.

PPE

Mask on, seal over the nose to stop glasses misting up so much. Apron on (always easier with gloves on), feels flimsy especially in the wind, doesn’t feel like it will protect much. Visor on or is the patient low risk? How many more times am I going to put this all on?The beginning of shift routine is to check if we have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This involves checking stores, asking managers, raiding dormant ambulances. As relief staff (not on a fixed shift pattern) you go to different stations. Each station has differing policies; some have personal issue PPE, some are ambulance specific. As relief you end up pilfering PPE to protect yourself as you might end up without.

Statutory Sick Pay

If you’re unable to work due to illness or are self-isolating due to Corona virus, and your employer doesn’t offer contractual sick pay, you can claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you usually earn at least £118 per week before tax. For the next 3 months at least, you can claim SSP from the first day of not working. Your employer pays SSP and you should tell them immediately, and at least within 7 days, that you need to claim it. You normally have to provide a GP fit note after 7 consecutive days of illness but at present you only need to provide a note from NHS 111 online 

If you qualify for SSP, you also qualify for some Universal Credit monthly payments towards rent costs and for Council Tax Reduction. Use the benefit calculator at the Turn2Us website to calculate how much you qualify for and how to apply for it

In 2018 Mencap, the learning disability charity with an unappealing name, took the government to court. Mencap wanted to challenge an earlier ruling on whether or not sleep shifts count as work, for the purposes of calculating the national minimum wage. They won their case and now, thanks to them, sleep shifts are no longer legally recognised as work. So if you sleep as part of your job, your boss doesn’t have to pay you for it.

I am lucky; I haven’t worked a sleep shift for years — they do not involve a lot of actual sleep. In my old job in a dementia unit I would work a late shift from 3pm-10pm, at 6am I would start getting residents washed and dressed, and between 10pm and 6am I was nominally “asleep” and therefore not getting paid. Even if I was getting paid, this would still be a breach of Working Time Regulations (something that most care workers opt out of when we sign our contracts).