To think carers should get sick pay if they catch covid from their patients..

[Bettyboo12]

My friend is a carer in the community. One of the family members of the individual she cares for has covid. My friend still has to to go into the house to care for their son and employers have just told them to wear full ppe. I think it's rediculous, especially as technically their family can care for them. Plus friend has other patients to care for, going into other houses. If she catches it she won't get any sick pay. No wonder carers are leaving.

Community staff should always have been given PPE. Is your friend fully vaccinated and takes regular tests. Carers going into clients home are always going to be at risk of picking up illnesses. Her other clients, their families, staff, her own friends and family could also pass it onto her.

I have a family member who works in a care home. They weren't paid if they tested positive for covid at the height of the pandemic so many didn't test, or went to work with symptoms rather than lose pay. Caters in general are treated appallingly and paid a pittance. Everyone agrees they deserve more, until they realise it involves putting the fees up.

She is vaccinated and is wearing ppe. It's the parent who has it. She is testing but like you said, she's worried and almost tempted not to test because she cannot afford to not work. I suppose when you are knowingly putting yourself at risk and now having to test, it makes you think doesn't it because you can't just carry on even of you are feeling well.

Carers are at risk of C-diff, norovirus, MRSA and many other infections, that's why good hand hygiene and proper PPE are important and always have been. The position your friend is in is not new and carers absolutely should be paid better and have better working conditions but nobody wants to pick up the bill for that.

Everyone in any job should get sick pay. Hats off to your friend for her job it's not an easy one. It's worrying though if your friend goes into a house with Covid and then goes to others houses but there's been over two years of Covid and things like this haven't been sorted so I doubt it will be

Yabu. They should get full pay when they’re ill, as should every other low paid employee in every sector. Regardless of what they’re ill with and where they caught it.

I agree everyone should be paid sick pay I'm not saying that.

Carers should get sick pay, holiday pay, pension and also should get paid a decent wage. If the job paid better it would attract better people.

I'm a manager in a care home and have long fought for staff to get paid if they catch covid. During the height of the pandemic staff were paid but the government stopped that a while back despite the fact care staff aren't able to work if they test positive even if they feel well enough.
Health and social care is falling down around us and I really don't blame people for not wanting to work in care when they are treated so badly and paid a pittance for what they do.

@Bettyboo12 I don’t mean sick pay, as in ssp, I mean full pay when off sick.

Should totally have sick pay, and I’d be pushing for an FFP3 mask too - maybe even reusing one but protecting it with a surgical mask/shield. (rather than just the standard surgical masks which are rubbish against covid especially if not tightly fit or if one way masking.

Obviously we are all at risk of catching it, I understand that, but if you knew you someone had it you would stay away. The fact you are also forced to test and isolate if you are positive even if feeling well is so unfair. They've has such a shit time throughout covid, then being forced to have a vaccination or lose their job. It's absolutely disgusting treatment.

Carers are paid very poorly for the level of responsibility. My friend is on the minimum wage while responsible for medication, safeguarding,, liaising with professionals, key working and is fully qualified with an nvq3. It’s also a risky job, with the clients sometimes causing harm to the carers

The key thing here is that carers should get proper contracted hours and T&Cs and sick pay and have proper PPE and be trained in how to use it.

You cannot prove if you caught Covid-19 from your caree or somewhere else even if it is most likely it was from them, so for the exact question you have asked, not specifically no.

I think, in the particular case you describe op, that it is fairly low risk to your friend.

She is not caring for someone with covid, it is just that someone in the house has it.

As long as they stay away when she is there, and as long as your friend wears PPE, she should avoid catching it I think.

And if she does, she is vaccinated.

In terms of being forced to stay at home, unpaid, if she tests positive - well, I'm afraid those rules are going to make people refuse to test.

But really, we are supposed to just live with it now. I am a teacher and we are no longer required to test. Children in our classes come into school with coughs and other symptoms so our profession is also exposed to covid and other illnesses.

Guess if she catches it and feels ok she won’t tell her employer and she will carry on working. 🤷‍♀️ I know I would. If that means I give it to another client well bad luck.

And people wonder why it spreads

Your friend needs to take extra care, extra clothes to change in to as well as hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes. There’s a lot of PPE she can wear (full face shields, FFP3 masks, shoe protectors etc) and see the patient with covid last, so she doesn’t spread it to other patients.

Yes, because employers don’t pay sick pay. People have rent to pay, need to eat, etc.

I work in a nursing home and this is a huge issue. I strongly suspect some members of staff have had covid (showed symptoms) and just somehow avoided testing or reports negative tests when they are in fact positive. You can be fully vaccinated and use all the PPE provided and still catch covid. It’s a highly contagious virus. When providing personal care with an infected resident we are in very close contact with them and are breathing the same air. Sometimes it’s unavoidable.

When your already on minimum wage and struggling to make ends meet, having unpaid leave isn’t an option. People have bills to pay, families to feed.

Care staff are vital in our care homes and have such an important job but are hugely under appreciated and grossly underpaid. I wonder where the money goes, each resident is paying around £1000 a week for a room and care (the home I work in has 60 rooms), they ( the residents) are often eating low quality budget food, and all staff employed are on minimum wage. When things break in the care home it takes months to replace ( like a broken wheelchair ,fridge or kettle) … It’s just really strange. I think the majority of the profits probably go to the CEO’s that own the care companies… It certainly isn’t going back into the home.

People stacking shelves in supermarkets get paid more than carers, it’s really bad …