£60,000 payout for families of front-line staff killed by virus

Izzy Lyons

FAMILIES of NHS staff who have died in the course of their “essential frontline work” during the crisis will receive £60,000 from the Government.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, yesterday confirmed that 82 NHS workers and 16 social care staff have so far died from Covid-19, and unveiled a publicly-funded life assurance scheme to help their relatives cope.

He said: “I feel a deep personal sense of duty that we must care for their loved ones. Today, I am able to announce that the Government is setting up a life assurance scheme for NHS and social care front-line colleagues.

“Families of staff who die from coronavirus in the course of their essential front-line work will receive a £60,000 payment. We want to do everything we can to support families who are dealing with this grief.”

Foreign medics who worked in the

NHS when they died will also qualify.

It follows weeks of pressure on the Government to step up personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies given to NHS workers on the front line.

One doctor who died after contracting the virus warned the Government about the chronic shortage of PPE just three weeks before his death. Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, a senior consultant at Homerton Hospital in east London, wrote to Boris Johnson on March 18, asking him to “urgently” ensure PPE for “each and every NHS worker in the UK”.

Donna Kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “This announcement will bring reassurance to families in difficult situations. Financial security should never add to the worries of those in grief. The RCN and other health unions fought for this. It must be easily accessed, open to those in social care and primary care too and be paid promptly. No family should face a lengthy or complex process.”