AIBU to be p*ssed off with Scottish Government £500 Covid Bonus

[AnnieHoo]

I work in Health and Social Care in Scotland. I am not being given the £500 Christmas bonus from the Scottish Government budget that all of my colleagues are getting. I know that some of them deserve it for putting themselves in the frontline but a lot of them have been working from their living rooms for the last 10 months. I don't fit into the criteria and as far as I'm aware neither do those in Education or Transport or private sector or community trusts... just a kick in the teeth.

What is the criteria? That is a horrible kick in the teeth!

In England you have to be in receipt of certain benefits to get it, so DS didn't get it despite being on a low income and SSP only during isolation because he lives at home (which is fine, he doesn't need it). Is that not the case in Scotland?

Oh I thought the OP was talking about the NHS bonus?

Oh no, I've missed the point completely. I'm talking about the isolation payment. Sorry.

As far as I know it's going from UK Government funding to 300 000 staff including £500 each for nurses, porters, doctors, primary care staff, care home workers, AHP's, Social Workers, hospice staff, and residential childcare staff.

So why don't you meet the criteria if all your colleagues are getting it?

It sucks that you’re not getting it. But they can’t examine every case on an individual basis. They have to make general rules that in most cases get the bonus to those who deserve it, but in some cases will miss out people who deserve it and give it to those that don’t. I’m glad they’re doing it.

I don't meet the criteria because I'm not a social worker or AHP. To be clear I find it divisive and I don't think public money should be spent this way. I am part of a team who have been supporting people who have Covid-19 and people who are shielding. We have gone way above and beyond as have our peers in the voluntary sector, community trusts and the private sector.

I totally agree Annie. I support the £500 going to all the frontline health workers and also those delivering social care, but I really don't know what most social workers have been doing. They've shut down all their support services and not many have been in touch with their clients.

The support staff in the third sector on the other hand have been amazing and have gone above and beyond, but they aren't getting the £500. It's a real kick in the teeth

I'm an AHP and I was patient facing throughout but I'm donating mine to a homeless charity, I don't need it. I get paid well enough so don't feel I deserve it. Its not means tested that I'm aware of so those paid more than 40k will get same amount as those on a lower wage?

You could have stopped after Government - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55184961 "More than 1,200 people in Scotland died of drug misuse last year, new figures show.
The much-delayed figures show a record number of deaths for the sixth year in a row and the highest total since records began in 1996.
It is the worst rate recorded in Europe and about three and a half times the rate for England and Wales."

Annie - i assume that you aren't employed by a statutory organisation?

I agree that lots of people have gone above and beyond during the past 9 months. But what is the answer? Paying everyone £500??

Wales did similar for care workers and this is exactly what happened. All the focus was on the minutiae of who got it and envy between colleagues rather than the intended gesture of rewarding low paid workers during a pandemic. I honestly don't know why Scotland didn't learn the lesson from us.

@Ffsnosexallowed I work for a local authority in Health and Social Care. We are crippled with lack of funds. It would be better if the Scottish Government poured this money into tackling child poverty and drug addiction.

In my organisation only frontline care workers got it.

I don’t think they are doing that in England are they? I’m icu nurse, but I’d rather they took the money and invested it in patient care. Maybe free TV for all the patients with no visitors for weeks on end A one off payment is pie in the sky.

I thought that those working in adult social care (i.e.local authority employees working under delegation of hscps) were eligible??

I agree OP seems stupid. There will be consultant doctors on 100k a year who didn't see a patient face to face for months. I guess would be complicated to only give it to people who have been working on the front line but yeah, lots of people will get who haven't done anything more than their normal work, or even less, and people who have been working long hours won't

@Bairnsmum05 This is a kind thing for you to do. To give it away. I have friends who are also doing this. I don't want to give too much away but I work in a health board area with under 100 positive cases. It's so different in each geographical area.

@sonicbook

What is the criteria? That is a horrible kick in the teeth!

This is the criteria for the £500 bonus.

All NHS Employees, including:

staff who have been active in the NHS since 17 March 2020 but who have since left NHS employment, including retirees
staff who accepted and worked on temporary contracts since 17 March to aid pandemic response but who have since left NHS employment, including students who worked under temporary contracts but who have since returned to University
staff covered by the Two Tier Agreement
General Practitioners and their practice teams, including 2C practices
Staff providing NHS services under independent contractor arrangements including:

GP surgery staff
NHS Dental surgery staff
NHS pharmacy services staff
NHS optometry staff
Staff working in Adult Social Care including:

Care home staff
Homecare staff
Palliative care/hospice staff
Adult Personal Assistants
Social care staff in residential child care settings
Social Workers (including those working with children and families and in criminal justice)

Sometimes I think I live in a different universe.

I've been a front line worker throughout and it's been pretty grim at times. I will get the bonus (or a proportion of it as I'm not full time) but I really don't think it's a good use of money. Despite the stress of the job over the last year I know I'm lucky to have a job and job security. I'll be donating mine to charity and I know some of my colleagues are doing the same. Now if they were to suggest an extra few days annual leave, that would be a different matter!

Tbf, from that list it looks like they’ve tried to be as inclusive as possible. Your job must be quite random if you aren’t an nhs employee but all of your colleagues except you are eligible.