Speaking at the Covid inquiry today (Tuesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said that the ‘big worry’ was that if ‘a pandemic happened tomorrow social care would in same position as before.’
Christina McAnea was giving evidence on behalf of the TUC regarding the impact of the pandemic on social care, the sector’s response during Covid, and lessons to be learned.
During questioning, Christina said at the time social care was regarded as an ‘afterthought’ by the government, with staff forced to make their own personal protective equipment (PPE).
When asked about reports of care workers resorting to wearing Marigold gloves in the absence of proper safety kit, she said: “It was shockingly bad. UNISON set up a Covid helpline and in the first morning alone there were over 1,000 calls (many of them from care staff).
“Policy was made up with no proper system in place for distribution. It was so bad that union members were going into care workplaces to give staff masks and gowns. If a pandemic were to happen tomorrow, there’s still no proper system in place.”
In her evidence, Christina said it was hard to find guidance about safety kit from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on its website about what staff should be using and how to dispose of it. This was an issue Christina said she’d raised with a senior HSE official.
“I couldn’t find the guidance and I’m not a busy care worker. The official then looked and said that he couldn’t find it either. When he did finally locate it, the text was complete gobbledygook. I don’t know who it was aimed at but it certainly wasn’t written for care workers.
“FAQ documents or short videos about how to put PPE on and take it off would have been much better.”
Christina said staff working in domiciliary care were very badly affected by the lack of guidance around safety kit.
“The quality of the information going out was appalling. It felt like it was being made up on the hoof. Care workers were being told they could use a mask for a whole day but some were seeing 20 clients a day. The guidance would then change. That would never have happened in the NHS.”
The fact that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) stopped doing inspections also had a major impact, she said. It meant no one was going in to care homes to pick up on the fact that some managers were locking safety kit in cupboards.
“Inspectors could have identified high levels of infection in particular care homes. Questions could have been asked but none of this was happening because no one was going in.”
A national care service would give the sector equal status with the NHS and ensure staff were properly trained to deal with a future pandemic, Christina added.
“Care workers with Covid were going in to work every day to deal with elderly people and those with learning disabilities. But there was no training on what was appropriate for each of those settings.
“No department is responsible for these issues even now. A national service would have responsibility for what actually happens, just as in the NHS. Staff would be properly trained.”
The lack of sick pay, she told the inquiry, was another major failing exposed by the pandemic – and this has still not been resolved.
“There’s no safety net, no money in the bank to tide care workers over. A lack of sick pay was a driver of infection in the pandemic. Care workers had to turn up to work when told to self-isolate. They couldn’t afford to stop home.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
Sophie Goodchild M: 07767 325595 E: s.goodchild@unison.co.uk
The article Social care sector has yet to learn the lessons of pandemic, says UNISON first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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