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]

Frontline - someone dealing directly with covid positive patients. ICU staff, nurses, doctors, paramedics, test station workers. Possibly some police IMO.

Key workers - those who are essential to the country functioning at most basic level. Includes supermarket staff, delivery workers, sewage and water staff, transport and national grid employees etc.

Whete (sic) do people rank hospital cleaners. Personally i would say Frontline.
Definitely frontline.

I disagree too, your job is as vitally important as that of a nurses albeit for different reasons

I agree my job is essential but I'm not working with covid patients so I'm not a frontline worker

I agree my job is essential but I'm not working with covid patients so I'm not a frontline worker

Well if you're not meeting clients face to face then no you're not. Plenty of other social workers are.

@Kaliorphia

I agree my job is essential but I'm not working with covid patients so I'm not a frontline worker

Well if you're not meeting clients face to face then no you're not. Plenty of other social workers are.

Of course I'm meeting people face to face but they are not covid patients, they are families just like any other family. No more or less likely to have Covid than any other.

In which case you're a front line social worker. You can use BASW and social work England as your reference point if you can't work it out for yourself.

@Kaliorphia

In which case you're a front line social worker. You can use BASW and social work England as your reference point if you can't work it out for yourself.

A frontline social worker in the terminology of social work. Not in the meaning of a frontline worker in the covid pandemic.

My gut feeling is frontline = any HCP who works with any kind of patient is 'frontline' because they all have to treat their patients as undiagnosed or known diagnosed positives.

I asked this a while ago. I'm an AHP working in the community. Most of the people we see are either negative or status unknown, some are positive.
We support hospital discharges, without teams like mine hospitals would be struggling even more than they already are.
I wasn't sure if I would be classed as "frontline". Part of me thinks yes because working with +ve clients is part of what we do as standard. Part of me thinks no because I'm not in ITU/ critical care.

@Mummyme87

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.

I’m shocked you don’t view yourself as front line. Who do you view as front line?

@Shaniac

Frontline=military at war.

Drs healthcareworkers, nurses and school/nursery staff/shop workers= key workers.

This. I can't stand the current usage of "frontline". I've never heard anyone say it in real life in this context, thankfully. Only MN, social media etc.

I don’t know why there is confusion. If you work in a hospital setting you are front line OP or a health care setting. There’s no question.

Frontline- Health, Social Care, Early Years and Education.

Key Workers- Lorry Drivers, Retail Workers , Postal Workers, Council Workers, Utilities etc

NHS front line would mean to me anyone working with patients. All of you are vital to our healthcare. There are many other type of patients than covid.
But there will always be some other members of the team who may not face the patients, but without who you would not be able to do your work. For example, those who arrange the delivery of supplies and PPE, or operate vital instrumentation. I would add that crew to front line, when it comes to things like vaccines.
If I hear front line key workers, I would think of all the key sectors (list has long ago been published by the goverment), of those facing the public in all those sectors, obviously including NHS ones.

Frontline is hospitals. Key worker is the rest.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

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

On a covid ward - definitely front line. Along with the catering staff, nurses, doctors etc.

Keyworker are the great many needed to keep the country running and safe, the rest of the NHS, bin men, power stations, military, police, food supply, teachers, benefits, banking, probably the vast majority of jobs when you think about it.

Which really only leaves non essential retail, travel and tourism, sports, fitness, personal care, hospitality,

To add, I used to work Early Years. On occasions when making a GP appointment for something serious that could have been transmittable, I would explain my job role and that I was a ‘frontline worker’. I was given an appointment more readily because if this.

The term was used long before covid.

Working with those with Covid.

What makes it confusing is that those who work with covid patients aren't actually the ones most likely to catch it - last study I read found that NHS IT staff were more likely to catch it than those on the covid wards.

Front line means direct contact with covid and the response, so hospital workers, first response.

Key workers means those whose roles are necessary as far as the infrastructure keeping things going. So, DH who works in an operational transport role where there are limited numbers of people who can do his role, would be able to go to work (as he can't work from home).

The term frontline worker has not been redefined. It was in use a long before covid was even a thing.

frontline social worker in the terminology of social work. Not in the meaning of a frontline worker in the covid pandemic.

You can tell that to the families of the frontline social workers who died due to covid.

Thw terminology makes sense as they are 'on the frontline', fighting the actual virus. The issue IMO, however, is that everybody then asssumes them to be the most vulnerable, so we get all this 'free xyz for NHS staff'/NHS to front of the queue/clapping for NHS, when teachers are actually the ones most at risk.

For me front line I mean anyone who has to go out and do a job face to face, teachers, all care and nursing staff etc. I see your point though but I suppose it depends in the context. For me the main distinction is with key worker which I think is ill defined, for example I am technically within the key worker/critical worker definition but up until Jan when I return to the office I have been able to do the vast majority of my role remotely so feel I should make the distinction that way.

I don't get this ridiculous MN obsession with being front line applying to just staff on covid wards. It's constantly been used in one way or another to beat all other NHS staff with a stick and justify that they are not deserving of any appreciation being given to them.

It is nowhere as clear cut as covid patients and not as almost every member of staff who has a patient facing role (and has continued to do so throughout this period) will likely have come in contact with a covid patient as the patient status is often unknown at first presentation. In the first lockdown, staff working on non-covid wards were at a huge risk of exposure - BIL works on a mental health unit where they were not allowed to wear PPE through March/April because it prohibits communication. They had known covid cases who did not isolate in their room as the nature of their illness meant they didn't understand the concept. This was just one of many cases. He and most of the staff working on the ward caught covid, a staff member involved in restraining a covid patient (status not known at the time) subsequently died. If that isn't front line, I don't know what is but this crazy obsession with classifying really needs to stop.

Teachers aren't front line workers.
Receptionists for the NHS aren't front line workers.
Doctors and nurses who work directly with covid patients are front line workers.
Everyone else is a Key worker!