Carer not allowed shopping priority

A Northland care worker, who provides 24/7 care to a client with a life-threatening condition, says she was refused priority entry to a supermarket despite having an ‘‘essential services’’ letter.

Yesterday morning the Wha¯ nga¯ rei caregiver, who Stuff has agreed not to name, lined up at Countdown in Tikipunga at 7.30am to gain early entry with emergency service and medical workers. She was armed with a letter from her employer outlining her role but once she got to the front of the queue she was told she was not eligible and would have to wait until 9am.

The caregiver said it was ‘‘terrible’’ she had to leave her client, who has Guillain-Barre syndrome which causes paralysis and can be fatal, for hours at a time to queue up at the supermarket. ‘‘She [the manager] did not ask me any questions at all, even after I told her I was a 24/7 carer.

‘‘She did not even want to read through the letter,’’ the caregiver said. She said her client was ‘‘really vulnerable’’ and she was worried about leaving him for prolonged periods.

‘‘The longer it takes for me the more worried I get . . . it is just terrible ... and I am not the only one.’’ The woman’s employer, Northland’s Tender Loving Care managing director Jonathan Harris, told Stuff the refusal was ‘‘appalling’’ as the care worker lived with the client and provided him with ‘‘life-giving services to enable him to remain at home in the community’’.

Harris said that while the caregiver would usually be able to seek assistance from another employee, during the lockdown that was not feasible while she was self-isolating with a vulnerable person. ‘‘She has gone across to the Countdown three times this week and has had to turn around because the queues are just horrendous,’’ Harris said.

‘‘She cannot queue and leave him for two hours and we cannot get another caregiver in as that puts his bubble at risk.’’

‘‘Surely there can be some discretion for caregivers.’’ Jonathan Harris

Tender Loving Care managing director

He said while he understood Countdown was under a lot of pressure to provide essential services, it could have made an exception. ‘‘Surely there can be some discretion for caregivers who are on duty providing services to their clients and who have had to leave their clients to do the shopping. Not one of those district health board staff or emergency services personnel were on duty and could easily come at other times when they were not on duty,’’ Harris said.

A Countdown spokesperson referred Stuff to a previous statement about how the stores would open at 8am to provide a priority shopping hour each day for emergency services and medical personnel. Any of these people with proper identification can get their groceries before the store is open to the general public, it said.

This offer applies to police, fire service, ambulance paramedics, medical professionals including DHB personnel, doctors and nurses.