Thousands of care workers across the north west say they can't afford to self-isolate after being exposed to coronavirus because they are not entitled to full pay.
More than 2,600 workers have responded to a UNISON North West survey about the realities of working in care during the pandemic.
A large majority of the staff, who work in more than a thousand different settings across residential care, home care and learning disability support, said that their employers were not doing enough to keep them and the people they care for safe.
Key issues raised in the resulting report include:
- Severe lack of personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Inability to self-isolate if necessary due to lack of sick pay
- Health and safety issues putting service users and workers at risk
A massive 80 per cent of care workers think they will not be paid their normal wages if they have to self-isolate due to COVID-19.
The Wellcome Trust, which authored the report, is urging the Government to act urgently to ensure care workers receive their normal wage when in self-isolation.
One carer said: "Staff are at work while ill as they fear losing pay, putting other staff and clients in danger."
Another added: "After being in contact with some"one in the home who had COVID-19 and passed away we are not in isolation, management haven’t even contacted me to tell me he had it and passed and they are aware we do not have any protective wear.
"I also don’t get any sick pay so I should be in isolation but can't."
A lack of personal protective equipement (PPE) was also a major concern, with one worker adding: "When I enquired three weeks ago about extra PPE [the manager] laughed and told me it's not going to be like Italy, and I was scaremongering.
"Then she was unable to get enough PPE for all staff, despite knowing I have COPD, I wasn't offered any."
Another added: "We are told we are not allowed to wear PPE due to it scaring the people we support. We are not being able to social distance whilst in work due to the amount of staff [on duty]."
One carer added: "We have no hand sanitiser and are running out of soap."
Concerns were also raised around an inability to follow other Government guidance.
One care worker said: "We have no policies in place.
"[There are] more people in the building than normal. So we can't follow the social distancing advice.
"Been told we still have to come to work even if family members are showing symptoms.
"We have to come even if we have colds or coughs. Also, the people in the high risk categories that have been told not to work, have to work. [These are] people with asthma and COPD.
Dan Smith, UNISON north west regional organiser, said the survey and report show care workers are not being supported to stop the spread of the virus.
He added: "Applause, badges and plaudits mean nothing if care workers are unable to do their jobs without putting their own life- and the lives of their service users- at risk.
"We’re calling on councils across the North West to deliver for care workers in their areas by ensuring that any care worker forced to self-isolate due to COVID-19 receives full normal pay."
He said Salford Unison had worked with Salford Council to ensure this was the case in the authority.
The survey is part of UNISON North West’s recently launched Care Workers Vs COVID-19 campaign, which sets out to ensure that care staff can protect themselves at work and come together to secure the resources they need to stop the spread of coronavirus.
