By Charlotte Webster-
A British Thinktank has called on the British government to support care workers by offering them more generous pay. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) have referenced polls demonstrating overwhelming public support for better pay and entitlements for health and social care workers, and have called on the government to issue five guarantees to workers during the crisis.
The report written by researchers Chris Thomas and Harry Quilter-Pinner fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research(IPPR). IPPR and YouGov polled 996 healthcare employees
across the UK, on how Covid-19 has impacted their physical health, mental health and welfare, including 2,196 people in the UK general public, to inquire how they felt government should support the health and care sector.
Fieldwork IPPR supplemented this research with literature review and a full consultation of over 60 experts, professionals and representatives which included a survey conducted on health care workers claimed that one in two workers across the UK feel their mental health has declined in the last eight weeks. One in two have also experienced detriment to their family’s safety. 42 per cent of healthcare professions across the UK say government has not done enough to support their mental health, and 60 per cent feel rectifying this is a key priority going forward.
Almost three-quarters of health workers across the UK said they feltthe British government had not done enough to protect their health, through prevention and priority testing.The report calls for the UK government not to be sparing in providing the health and care
workforce what they need. ‘Care fit for carers’ means making five core guarantee, the report states.
Calling for a safety guarantee, the report states that ”just as you wouldn’t send an army into battle without armour, healthcare workers shouldn’t be under pressure to work without the
right protective equipment. Government must do everything in its power to
ensure PPE supply to health and social care workers throughout this crisis –
including by extensively repurposing UK manufacturing. It must also urgently
and rapidly expand priority testing of health and care staff”.
Accommodation Guarantee
The report also calls or an accommodation guarantee for health carers. It acknowledges strong moves made by NHS England on accommodation in providing hotel stays free of charge for health workers who would otherwise have to isolate, or who have been redeployed. However, it claims that the findings of its polling shows that this has not gone far enough -. More than one in three healthcare workers felt going further was a key priority in the weeks to come. The scheme should therefore be extended by government to those travelling
long-distances to work; who are working more than 14 hours in a day; or who are facing high levels of anxiety about family safety.
The government should provide full grants for any health or care worker who falls into arrears during this crisis period. The report also calls for a mental health guarantee because of the severe impact of disease outbreaks on the mental health of healthcare workers, which it says is well evidenced.
It states that ”many will experience stress, anxiety, bereavement or trauma. This will be made harder by the impact of social distancing on their support network. Yet, many are not eligible for bespoke therapy – and will be forced to cope alone. It calls on the British Government must ensure all workers’ mental health, by extending priority access to therapy to 2 million
more patient facing health and care professionals”.
The proposed measures include ensuring PPE supply for health and social care workers, guaranteeing accommodation for frontline workers, including expanding the offer of free hotel accommodation and grants to cover rental arrears; and ensuring workers’ mental health is safeguarded by extending priority specialist therapy for frontline staff, including the 1.3m social care workforce. The report highlights getting PPE and testing rights as ”the bare minimum frontline staff can expect from the government. This is because staff are also facing huge pressures on their mental health and wider welfare, including on housing, transport, childcare and pay as well.
It also states that ”this is not just the morally right thing to do for the workers who are risking their own health for the collective good. It also vital for the NHS’s ability to manage the crisis. After all, health and care staff can only keep us healthy if they are healthy themselves.
If, as many politicians have suggested, this pandemic is comparable only to a war, then our health and care workers are the ones ‘in the trenches’. We must ensure they are recognised for their service to our country. In the first world war, that meant ‘homes fit for heroes’. Now, it must mean ‘care fit for carers’.
”We must repay them for their commitment. As a minimum this must mean ensuring that they are safe and healthy in their workplace. Worryingly, the evidence is increasingly clear that
Covid-19 is putting this at risk.
The British government has already promised multiple Covid-19 testing for all Nhs key workers and is working to increase its supply of PPE Testing.
Image:nhs.uk