Care work staff ‘still waiting for bonus’
THE system used to pay health and care workers a £500 thank you bonus has been slammed as “ridiculously slow and complicated” after it emerged some staff were still waiting for payment.
Nicola Sturgeon announced in November the one-off sum would be offered as a reward for efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Around 300,000 people are expected to ultimately benefit from the policy, which includes NHS staff and those employed by local authorities.
While the majority of those eligible should now have received the bonus, concerns have been raised about the number of councilemployed care workers who are still waiting for payment.
Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie told the Record he was aware of delays across several council areas including Fife, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute.
The MSP previously revealed correspondence from Fife Council which warned that “as councils are only administrators of the payment, separate funding is needed from the Scottish Government”, which meant it could not hand over the cash until April or May.
The claim was denied by a Scottish Government spokesman at the time who said payments were due to be made by late March. Rennie said that he had since been contacted by several council workers who were still waiting for the bonus as of last week.
He said: “Once again, the SNP has made empty promises and keyworkers have been let down. We are very fortunate that council social care staff are significantly more efficient at caring for people than the Scottish Government are at getting bonuses into bank accounts.
“Carers have done wonders during an unprecedented health catastrophe but the Government is incapable of thanking them properly thanks to a lack of effective planning.
“The ridiculously complicated and slow bureaucracy is preventing our nurses and carers from getting the bonus they were promised within the time period the Government announced. Six months is an awfully long time to wait.”
In guidance published online, the Government said the numbers awaiting payment meant there was “some complexity”.
But it added: “We are working urgently with partners to ensure more detailed guidance and payment arrangements are in place as soon as possible. We expect the majority of payments to be made in March and April.”
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.