Fylde coast care worker bosses say more personal protective equipment is need and help for staff

Russell Crossley, a director at Westmorland Homecare in Poulton, said he has had concerns about a lack of PPE distributions to social workers and home carers, in comparison to NHS workers.

Mr Crossley said: "People working in social care at the moment feel undervalued. NHS workers are receiving a lot of focus at the moment, and rightly so, but there are carers in need of PPE who don't work in hospitals as well.

"Going between houses caring for clients heightens the risk of transmission of the disease, and it's mentally draining for our healthcare assistants at the best of times, let alone during this pandemic.

"Everyone is crying out for masks, and we were given 300 by the Government. But to put things into perspective, we have over 300 clients to see per week- and those masks would last us around two days if we adhered to current guidelines."

Mr Crossley said the company has had to assess which patients are at the highest risk of infection and ration out the masks only during those visits and added that there aren't enough for all staff.

He added: "What we need is clear clinical evidence to support the effectiveness of facial shields, and we need more companies to help to create and distribute them, instead of profiteering.

"As a CQC registered healthcare provider we're eligible for masks from different distributors, but at the moment they're either too expensive or take up to eight weeks for a delivery.

"There are around 1.56 million healthcare workers in the UK who don't work in hospitals. They need the same help, and the same recognition, and PPE is vital for them all."

Richard Whyatt, director of Napier Homecare in Blackpool had similar concerns over the PPE shortage.

He said: "Every care provider needs PPE equipment. Whatever the ministers say, it is not being provided to those that need it. Yes 400 million items may have been distributed but what use is 300 masks when we do around 5,500 visits a week.

"Why is the Government selling its stock back into trade channels. We can only source half the orders we had before the current challenge from our suppliers - no wonder we don't have enough.

"Some [councils] have given a vague promise to reimburse costs [for PPE] if they get additional funding from central government. Come on Chancellor what about supporting the very people you need by ensuring we are financially stable and properly rewarded. That is not a wish to profiteer - simply a desire to be treated fairly - our costs are increasing dramatically so why should we not be entitled to recover the costs."

Mr Whyatt also wants carers to get the same sick pay rights as public sector workers.

He said: "Perhaps we should give all carers the same right to sick pay as the PM and those working for the public sector. Why should carers who put themselves potentially in harms way be penalised if they have to take time off work?

"Many of my carers cannot afford to receive SSP (statutory sick pay) when often their partners have either been laid off or are on 80 per cent of pay.

"No council is funding their domiciliary care providers on the basis that nearly half our staff (like the NHS, police and prison service) are off sick on full pay. Indeed they are not funding providers to have the volumes off sick that we are now dealing with. And yes we can recover the first 14 days from the Government - but who is paying for the rest?

"We can bail out banks, we can bail out buses, we can furlough vast swathes of the country, we can underwrite loans to companies that may or may not recover - what about a small contribution to our wonderful carers."

This comes after the first two coronavirus deaths among care workers in England were announced earlier this week. Carol Jamabo, 56, a community carer for Cherish Elderly Care in Bury in Greater Manchester, died last week.

Another carer died in a home run by MHA, the UK’s largest charitable social care provider, which said it was unclear where she contracted the virus.

Earlier this week Mark Adams, the chief executive of social care charity Community Integrated Care, called on the Government to fund the sector's "endless, necessary attempts" to protect those receiving and delivering care.

He said the Government's current deliveries don't "even scratch the surface of the required supply".

He said: "Care providers have worked tirelessly to independently source adequate levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline services, at great difficulty.

"Whilst some Government support has been offered via Public Health England in recent weeks, we need this to go much further, much faster.

"If a care service experiences a breakout, it is essential they have everything at their disposal necessary to not only protect the health of the people they support but also their workforce too.

"Whilst a weekly delivery of 300 masks from the Department of Health and Social Care to care services might sound generous, in reality it is woefully inadequate for any large care home.

"We also need to appreciate that masks alone do not offer the protection that is required in an outbreak.

"Frontline care services need immediate access to the full suite of PPE, such as eye protection, hand sanitiser and protective gowns, so they can safely manage the threat of outbreaks, and right now that is not being delivered."

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