Who do you consider as front line worker

[BrightonForWine]

I work on a ward with covid negative, mainly fit and well patients for elective surgery.

We consider 'frontline workers' as those who work directly with covid positive patients.

But I've seen some people who consider anyone working with patients (whatever their covid status) as frontline workers.

And now I've seen that some people consider those who work with the public or childcare (so those who work in Tesco or schools) as frontline workers.

I googled it and it was as clear as mud and seemed to banned together 'key workers' as 'frontline workers' which surprised me.

I wondered, purely out of interest what others considers as 'frontline' workers? And do you consider 'frontline and key workers' as a different name for the same thing?

[title edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

Argh wrong title!!

It's mean to say FRONT LINE WORKER

Teachers who are face to face with no PPE

Difference between front line and key worker.

It's akin to the military.

Those that went over the trench wall and at the enemy were "front line"

So those working with Covid Cases.

Everything else is key worker

Pisses me off when mother tells me she's front line cause she vaguely works for the NHS (very vaguely).

Frontline worker to me is someone working with Covid patients.

Critical (see they seem to have dropped 'key') workers are just those that in retail / other healthcare / transport / utilities etc.

The whole thing pisses me off. You could shoehorn pretty much anything in under the critical worker guidance in the school contingency plan.

Key workers - broad term covering all sorts of roles, prison wardens, teachers, super market staff.
Front line worker - if you use the war analogy "front line" then it would be those dealing with Covid patients, A&E staff.
I don't see them as interchangable terms though.

Frontline I would class as social care workers and nhs working directly with covid.
I have a letter to say I'm a keyworker. I pack frozen food. Very different!

You see my db works on an elderly residential psychiatric ward. He has Covid that they have to manage on the ward often to the resident's death. He has been there about 25 years and he is used to residents dying especially from flu. He says this is different. He lives alone and is really feeling it. So whereas he's not on a 'covid' ward or in a hospital that has one, he is semi front line some of the time.

Frontline workers - NHS or care home staff working with covid positive patients.

Key workers - such a broad category because so many people work in jobs that are key to keep the country moving. Anything from police officers to benefit contact centres.

I didn't seem them as interchangeable either!

We have always considered those who work directly as covid positive patients as 'front line workers' and those working with the public as 'key workers'.

There's a lot of people out there who consider themselves as working at the front line who really aren't.

Frontline worker - those treating covid patients on covid wards.

Keyworkers - anyone keeping the country going, so people keeping food on the shelves, other medics not frontline, fire, police, carers, people doing community support such as deliveries to those isolating and shielding (even if they are volunteers), teachers, nursery, TAs, I'm sure there are more that I haven't thought of.

You can be a keyworker and work from home, e.g. people working for Department of Work and Pensions or HMRC.

As for 'frontline', it depends how many rows back you go I suppose.
I'm not sure it is helpful to pit different groups against each other though.

If you are working in a non-Covid ICU hwy wouldn't that count as frontline?

Front line and critical workers are different but I certainly wouldn't say one is more important than the other which is what seems to be implied by your question.

Front line - anyone who could feasibly touch a patient/client in the delivery of their work. I'd include anyone working on a ward in a hospital, the shop floor of a supermarket, social workers or other critical health and social care staff working directly with clients etc.

Key workers are anyone else delivering critical services who aren't patient/client facing. Back office supermarket staff, hauliers, council staff coordinating services, logistics ppl. Anyone basically who keeps critical things going like food/utilities/services but who works from home/office

Frontline... Public facing in healthcare, social care, education etc, police, prison workers.
Essential.. anyone whose job is needed for 'life' like food shopping, administration around 'frontline' such as ensuring that there is staff, equipment ordering etc (and pay), transport
Keyworker... The wider defintion

Most of the workers under the education policy are critical. You can't take your 5 year old on the bin round but it definitely needs doing. And public sector (last time I looked) can't be furloughed. And so if you can't do the job from home then you need to access childcare if not education.

Yeah difficult. I’m a midwife and wouldn’t necessarily say we are front line, but we do care for covid positive women, of which some are asymptomatic and some fairly sick. We get women walking through the door in large numbers everyday who aren’t covid swabbed, any admitted have covid swabs but takes at least 24hr for a result... and we have a lot who test positive.

Frontline worker - someone who works in the hospitals with Covid patients

Key worker - someone who works in an industry that's keeping the country going, although at different levels.

Frontline- working with covid patients.
Keyworker- anyone essential to keep the country going, and I would include anyone whose employer expected them to work out of the home in lockdown one as well.

I consider frontline workers those TREATING COVID patients, A&E staff etc.

I’m a prison officer. We’ve had several outbreaks where I work. I serve food to those with a positive test, and accompany our health care staff when they go into the cells, to test/treat them etc. I’ve being exposed to COVID cases far more than I’d have liked to have been, but I’m not a ‘frontline’ worker.

Frontline worker to me is someone working directly with Covid cases.

I would not call someone working behind a screen in Home Bargains a "frontline worker" to be honest, it doesn't compare.

It's been outlined clearly since March. Anyone who is needed to keep the country working, e.g. healthcare, transport, food chain, essential retail, call centres including banking and benefits etc www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision#critical-workers

Whete do people rank hospital cleaners. Personally i would say Frontline.

I work in furniture manufacturing which can't be done from home and we are not key workers. We are allowed to operate during lockdowns though.

Apologies, you said frontline so health care professionals to me, keyworkers is what I was referring to. I had a letter given to me in March to prove I was a keyworker incase the police stopped me (as was happening in early lockdown)