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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU about the £60k payment just for NHS staff

111 replies

Westroyd1 · 28/04/2020 18:28

I know this might sound unreasonable but please take the time to read my reason.
I am an NHS member of staff, I fully support the work the NHS are doing, but the recent announcement by the government to give families of NHS staff who have died from COVID-19 a £60k payment has really unsettled me. Don't get me wrong they have died doing the job they love and under very very unfortunate circumstances but the reason it feels wrong to me personally is that my mum had a bowel operation mid-Feb that went catastrophically wrong and led to her being in ICU for 4 weeks and was just at the point of being able to talk, eat a little whilst tube fed and had managed to take a few steps on a very long road to recovery at week 7 post-op only to contract/become symptomatic with COVID-19 on 8th April within the hospital which could only have been from staff as she had no contact with anyone else and had not left the building within that time.
She passed away on 11th April from COVID-19.
I am sorry but I feel bitter that the government are not taking into account patients who have died from COVID-19 through no fault of their own within the hospitals and if feels unfair. AIBU???

OP posts:
Jammydodger1981 · 28/04/2020 18:30

Yanbu. Whilst I don’t want a race to the bottom; I bet the families of the 20+ London transport staff who caught it then died whilst doing their jobs and goodness knows how many supermarket workers, care home workers etc. who have caught it and died must also be feeling pretty indignant right now too.

YeahWhatevver · 28/04/2020 18:32

Govt latching onto the current emotive hot topic and looking all caring about it.

Lots of public services (both public and private) at work, risking themselves for the country, but spending 60k on them would buy less votes.

Cynical I know.....

HappyHammy · 28/04/2020 18:33

Sorry to hear about your dear mum. The staff would never intentionally pass on any infection. You work in the NHS so know how many people staff come into contact with both in and out of work. The carrier could have been staff, visitor, patient.

Didkdt · 28/04/2020 18:34

This payment is recognition not compensation that those who died did so in service to the nation, other key workers will fall into the scheme.
If you're upset about your mum and her treatment happened before the Coronavirus legislation happened then sue the NHS

Cuddling57 · 28/04/2020 18:36

I'm so sorry for your loss.
I thought they said they would look at introducing this payment to other front line workers who do not get death benefits. I assumed/hoped the transport workers families would get death benefits already. I'm surprised the nhs do not get something like this already.

Hont1986 · 28/04/2020 18:36

YABU. It's basically a death in service payment.

lockdownbirthdayhelp · 28/04/2020 18:38

It's a death in service payment really and not uncommon in a lot of sectors.

I'm so sorry about your mum. My dad died in December, it's very hard Thanks

MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously · 28/04/2020 18:38

I think yabu (a bit). I'm very sorry about what happened to your mum, but her death was accidental. She was unlucky to be in hospital when all this kicked off. NHS staff are having to deliberately risk their own lives because if they don't, sick people will not be looked after at all. They are often living away from their own children to do this.
I do believe it ought to be extended to everyone who dies because they had to go to work and contracted it in the course of keeping the country afloat.
You do have every right to be furious with the govt whose incompetence has put your family in this position.

MojoMoon · 28/04/2020 18:51

Death in service payments are quite common....my next of kin would get a year's salary from my employer (private sector) if I died while still employed there.

If these are discretionary payments just for staff who die of coronavirus but not staff who die because of other things then there might be an argument about how fair that is but a general death in service payment is quite common in lots of workplaces.

Puddlejuice · 28/04/2020 18:56

I can't claim to have read the detail, but NHS staff who are in the pension get death in service anyhow, is this just a spin on that?

LakieLady · 28/04/2020 18:57

Sorry about your mum, OP. Flowers

I believe the NHS death in service is 2 x annual salary. Unless the £60k is on top of that, that won't be a massive amount more for many nursing staff and most junior doctors.

DP would get 2x my salary if I died in service, and I would get 2 or 3 times his. My ex's death in service was 3 x salary, plus half the pension he would have got on retirement had he lived till retirement age.

It would have been shedloads, and I'd have been a very merry widow, especially as he had other pension provision as well!

Letsnotusemyname · 28/04/2020 19:01

I hope this 60k is payable to...

NHS volunteers, foreign staff, bus drivers, prison staff.

Dyrne · 28/04/2020 19:04

I appreciate that you are grieving, so it’s understandable, but I agree that YABU.

Death in service payments is a pretty common thing. I’m not NHS and I would get 6 times salary if I died while employed, and it doesn’t even have to be related to anything from work - it could be a car accident, illness, anything.

To me this is just yet another example of the government announcing something shiny for the NHS to look like heroes, while glossing over the fact that basic pay and benefits are shit.

FAQs · 28/04/2020 19:07

What are all these death in service policy jobs?

Agree with @Letsnotusemyname also the fact postal and supermarket workers who contracted it and died.

Atleastitssunny · 28/04/2020 19:11

This is going to sound awful and I don’t mean it to be but I think the current fawning over NHS staff has been deliberately orchestrated by the government to hide their own fuck ups and focus everyone’s attention on the ‘heros’ rather than the ‘villains’

The NHS is full of amazing staff but so are delivery drivers, bin men, post men, bus drivers etc... and they are getting ill too doing their jobs.

It’s not a race to the bottom but it is all a charade of ‘look how much we love our nurses’ the clapping, raising millions (which is bonkers, quite frankly, it is a National Health Service, it is the governments job to fund it, it is not a charity.)

I think nurses would be happier with fair pay, realistic shifts and breaks, adequate PPE and better bursaries and incentives to future and current workers to lighten the workload, not a show of a payout once they’re dead.

SpoonBlender · 28/04/2020 19:12

It's going to encourage more "accdental inaccuracy" about what goes on the death cert too.

sergeilavrov · 28/04/2020 19:15

I’m sorry for your loss, when everything settles a little, you can think about investigating the matter with a solicitor. They can help you understand the circumstances of your mum’s passing. If malpractice did occur, potentially because people were so distracted, you are entitled to be compensated and to receive - most importantly - an apology. This is important as it helps protect patients in the future. The NHS is huge, and malpractice is rare but does happen. I hope you have wonderful memories of your mum, however, and can spend time cherishing everything you shared.

In terms of the payment, it’s actually a very small death in service payment compared to what a lot of those in senior military positions get etc. I think these are less common in the UK however in general, though someone may correct me on that.

TerrorWig · 28/04/2020 19:16

Is this not a death in service payment? If I die, from anything, while still working for my company they will pay my husband 4 x my annual salary.

If it’s in addition then it’s a bit shit but I had assumed that death in service for the NHS was the norm tbh.

Tonemeth · 28/04/2020 19:17

It's a group life assurance essentially. Many work places operate them and it is right that the nhs and social care sector are doing this.

Many people have death in service benefits at their workplace which will pay out if they die while working.

It's a paltry amount of money and the only offense I can take at it is how little we value those on the front line.

Other non public sector workers' families should be compensated by their employer.

Beckyboom · 28/04/2020 19:20

I hope this also rolled out to teachers and school staff (etc etc).

cantory · 28/04/2020 19:24

It is not just a death in service payment. That would vary dependent on salary and not be the same whatever post you have in the NHS.

shinyredbus · 28/04/2020 19:24

No sorry YABU.

thecatsabsentcojones · 28/04/2020 19:25

This is a very low death in service payment, probably there to stop people from suing the government for more given their accountability in not providing PPE.

ilovebrie8 · 28/04/2020 19:25

@Atleastitssunny I totally agree with what you are saying...

RandomLondoner · 28/04/2020 19:26

I think that the government should make it compulsory for all employers to pay out 60K (or possible more) whenever an employee dies of COVID. (Except if they work entirely from home.) That would give the employers an extra incentive to get their risk assesments right.