Fund to help care home staff forced to stay off sick
AFUND to help care workers who are off sick with coronavirus systems is to be set up. MSPs voted to set up the fund to help staff financially if they are self-isolating.
Labour Health spokeswoman Monica Lennon proposed the change, which was then later supported at Holyrood by the SNP.
Earlier this week the Glasgow Times reported how private care home workers were worried that if they get symptoms they have to take time off work but only get statutory sick pay of £94 a week.
Unions including GMB and Unison had said it was unfair for care home staff to be hit financially because they were forced off work.
Lennon said: “Care workers are unsung heroes of this crisis. They shouldn’t be at work if they have Covid-19 because of the risk to residents and other staff, however, they should not be pushed into poverty for missing a shift in these circumstances.
“This fund is supported by trade unions and will provide vital support. This is about saving lives and livelihoods.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the SNP would back the proposal and said that most care home staff were employees of private businesses who had a responsibility to their workforce.
She said: “Without pointing the finger at anybody or trying to pass the buck, I do think it’s really important we work with employers to make sure employers are doing the right thing and fulfilling their duties towards the staff who work for them.”
We told this week of one Glasgow care home worker who said staff are “scared to get tested”.
The worker was shocked to find that after testing positive for Covid-19 and isolating for 11 days, they would only be paid £94 with SSP. We found several private run care homes in the city offered no sick pay to staff, who were reliant on the government minimum. The worker said: “I’m already paid so low that I put myself into debt just doing the mandatory isolation period, from a disease I got at work.”
The latest National Registers of Scotland weekly statistics for coronavirus were revealed showing There had been 332 deaths in the last week taking the total where coronavirus was listed on the death certificate to 3540.
It showed that Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board area had the highest number at 117 in the last week and 1156 to date since the pandemic hit Scotland.
The daily figures showed in Greater Glasgow there were 412 people in hospital and 18 in intensive care.
Latest figures on testing also showed thousands of social care workers had been tested for coronavirus. Up until Monday, there were at least 32,166 key workers or symptomatic family members who had been tested through NHS laboratories.
Of those tested, approximately 57% were healthcare workers or their families, 34% were social care staff and family members and 8% were from the rest of the public sector, including the prison service and firefighters.”
Anyone over age five with symptoms can book a test at one of the test centres including at Glasgow Airport.