Care staff anger at being left out of £1,000 bonus
SOME Welsh care home staff are furious after being left out of a government pay increase.
In February, it was announced by the Welsh Government that about 53,000 care workers would receive a £1,000 bonus from this month.
At the time, the government said the £96m worth of payments, being made to registered care home and homecare workers alongside the introduction of the real living wage, were to recognise their efforts during the Covid pandemic.
However, some non-care staff have criticised the government for not including them in the scheme.
Tania Garwood is an office administrator at Claremont Court Care Home in Pillmawr Road, Newport, and said she felt it was “unfair” that non-care staff were not getting the extra cash.
“I worked as a carer for seven years and I understand the care staff are underpaid, but this unfair decision by the government has caused a divide within the home and morale is now at rock bottom for those of us who have been left out,” she said.
“These are very trying difficult times within our care home and being left out of this payment has made myself and all the other staff feel insignificant – this is obviously how the government views us.
“The morale at the home is low due to the strain of the extra work put upon us to keep the home safe and to follow all the Covid rules and regulations, and this feels like a kick in the teeth.
“All staff care for the residents. We all spend time sitting with residents, chatting, cheering them up when they feel sad, making them feel loved and cherished.”
In mid-2020, the Welsh Government announced that all social care workers in Wales would receive a £500 bonus as part of a move to show staff in the sector that their hard work was “appreciated and recognised” during the pandemic. In March 2021 all NHS staff and social care workers were given a one-off payment of £735 to recognise their contribution.
However, non-direct care staff – including Tania and Claremont Court’s activities facilitator, Andrea Gillum – have not been included in the most recent scheme, which sees care staff and managers given
£1,000 between April and June.
Tania said she was one of a handful of staff who were medically vulnerable and had “been made to feel like we are nothing”.
She said she and the owner of the care home had written to Welsh Government over the matter.
A Welsh Government spokesman said:“This additional payment is different from the previous schemes. It is aligned with the introduction of the Real Living Wage for those, largely professionally registered, social care workers – specifically care workers in care homes, domiciliary care workers and personal assistants paid through direct payments. With the addition of senior care staff and managers, this payment focuses on those care delivery professionals, where we have a clear agenda to provide improved terms and conditions and career pathways.
“While ancillary staff in care homes work in the social care sector, and provide essential support that helps maintain the quality of provision, they are not delivering personal care services and are not required to register as social care professionals with Social Care Wales. They are therefore not within the scope of this particular initiative.”
Mario Kreft MBE, the chairman of Care Forum Wales, said: “There has clearly been a great deal of confusion around this payment. Care Forum Wales lobbied very strongly for the payment to be made to everyone working in the sector.
“Contrary to the way it has been presented, we’re told it was not intended as a bonus but to encourage recruitment and staff retention.
“There is however a much bigger issue about how we value social care workers and ancillary staff and how we commission social care to ensure our workforce, including ancillary staff, receive the rewards they deserve in the long term.”