AIBU about the £60k payment just for NHS staff

[Westroyd1]

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???

And only big firms tend to have death in service benefits. Usually tied to pension schemes. These NHS staff if in the pension scheme will also get a death in service benefit.
I am not arguing against it, but lets be accurate.

I’m really sorry for your loss OP.

I just wanted to echo some of the other posters who mentioned death in service benefits (which I think this £60k payment is).
This is quite common and it is normally a multiplier of a person’s annual salary. For this reason, I think the £60k payment to NHS workers is quite a small sum and if anything they deserve to be paid more.
What happened to your mother is awful and if you believe she died due to negligence, I would look in to suing the NHS. But this £60k payment has absolutely nothing to do with what happened to you.

And I am sure some families where medics have had inadequate PPE will sue the government.

It doesn’t make any sense to single out NHS workers rather than all keyworkers. The government should have held off announcing a scheme until they had throughly thought the scheme through including all the relevant workers not just announcing something else for NHS workers. It devalues all the other essential workers and it will be detrimental eventually.

No it is not a death in service benefit. They will get that in addition.

If you are in ICU do you think staff should be looking after you? They, NHS and care workers, are exposing themselves to a much higher risk than other jobs, I can't believe anyone would object to them getting £60K.

I agree with you. In fact this crisis has made me question the sheer mismanagement and disinformation produced by the NHS / the government re the NHS. They have the largest procurement departments of most companies in the world and yet couldn’t source PPE, they have and are letting people get to the brink of death before allowing treatment, they don’t accept Care Home patients and so just let them die. Trusts have cancelled Cancer treatments despite the NHS being significantly under capacity overall. It all makes me sick and when this is all said and done there definitely needs to be an inquiry.

I’m sorry to hear about your mum.

What job role do you have in the NHS?

My partner has got a death in service payout in place, and he’s only a civil servant.

Those NHS workers who are in the pension scheme will get a death in service payment. This money is for those who die from coronavirus but would not normally get this payment because they are not in scheme.

"It doesn’t make any sense to single out NHS workers rather than all keyworkers" Someone working at the controls in a power station is a keyworker. So is a bank manager. If one of them hears that someone in their town might be infected will they be called in to touch them and breath their air?

I don't know if the extra payment was needed or not, but a nurse IS different. An argument might be made for the hospital admin people not to get it.

It's not just for NHS staff. It's also for the care sector staff as well. Basically for the staff who were expected to care for known Covid patients with inadequate PPE.

It hasn't been confirmed yet that there will be no expectation of the families to sign away their right to take legal action. It's a bribe to prevent any "My husband/wife died because of a lack of masks and my kids are now homeless/starving" type bad publicity.

Op your dm death was tragic & I am sorry for your loss it was beyond horrible for you all.
but she easily could have contracted it from another patient or one of their visitors etc. & probably pre-symptomatic or if they had mild symptoms Perhaps she contracted it going through a& e or when she went to have blood tests & waited in a queue.
I doubt it was deliberate or medical negligence - it would be better to direct your anger at the politicians who didn't support proper isolation early enough or provide enough ppe or directions
Its quite possible that when your dm got corona & sadly died at the same time a member might have contracted it from her or from whoever the source at that time, & they themselves could die.
unless someone is a terrorist or irresponsible & knowingly careless most people who pass diseases onto others are not guilty - how could they know?

@Cuddling57

Like you I'm a bit cynical. Worked at one time in Civil Service and we certainly got a death in service payment [I seem to recall 1.5 salary]. I do hope that the £60 would be extra and not a top up or what they would have got!

It seems a disingenuous and poorly thought out headline grabber to me. Staff have the option to be in a good occupational pension scheme which will have death benefits but if something extra is deemed appropriate for this additional risk they have faced, why would it be the same figure for everyone? Do part timers get the full amount for example? Should they? Maybe, it's the same loss to their family , OTOH, not the same financial loss. What about if they have no dependants, or lots of dependants?

Here is some more detail from the government:

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-guarantee-on-death-in-service-benefits-for-frontline-health-and-care-staff-during-pandemic

Op sorry about your mum I think some of the government actions are quite divisive

YANBU

How is it different to soldiers, police officers and other uniformed people who die in the line of duty?

I think YABU. It’s a death in service payment that we get anyway. I don’t knows if the £60k is on top of that or not.
I really sorry to hear about your mum though xx

Some of the beneficiaries of these payments could be second cousins who barely knew the deceased, where there is other family. Is that good use of taxpayers' money?

What are all these death in service policy jobs?

Most that carry a pension. My husband when he was working used to joke that I greased the bannister because he was worth a lot more dead than alive.

Do other professions like the emergency services or armed forces have a death in service payment?

I am sorry for your loss.

But on this matter I do think YABU. It is effectively enhanced death in service benefits. I think the front line NHS staff AND carers in care homes, hospices etc. are much more likely to have caught CV through their work and very very constant exposure.

With all due respect to eg delivery drivers, refuse workers - yes they are working very hard but they are not likely to catch CV through their work.

Yes.

Sadly op bowel operations on older people are more risky than for younger people & even colonoscopies can be risky someone I know developed sepsis &possible endocarditis & had more than a month as an impatient on 4hourly iv with 2 antibiotics.
If you think your dm case was negligence you have a little bit of time before you need to make to a complaint however before you do (when you are able to face doing this-its stressful) request her notes.

That was to @Gingerkittykat.