How to deal with friends claiming to be 'key workers'

[McDougal]

Just as the title says, really. I know a lot of admin staff in the NHS. A lot support inpatient services and have a real impact on keeping things moving. Others are PAs to managers who will be making decisions impacting upon patient care, but could do this themselves without a PA forwarding this communication on their behalf.

How do you deal with this? One friend is continuing to take her child to nursery as she's a 'key worker' when her husband is temporarily at home as his job has come to a standstill and I'm struggling to be sympathetic.

Our admin staff are busier than a lot of the clinical staff at the moment as we are in the calm before the storm. What is happening now is a million protocols need to reviewed and finalised, every routine outpatient appointment has to be cancelled and then someone has to deal with the phone calls about why they aren’t getting their test and the aggro when they are told they can’t be given a date. Rota’s and leave are being rejigged, emergency training has to be organised and rooms books and people informed. They are run off their feet.

I’ve no idea how essential your friends job as a PA is right now.

But if her DH is currently at home, then their DC should be looked after at home with the DH. Key workers are only supposed to be sending their DC to school or nursery right now if there’s no way the DC can be cared for at home.
Aside from anything else, there’s a chance that her DC will be infected while at nursery.

It could also be the case that your friend's child is deemed vulnerable and has a social worker, so qualifies that way. Perhaps the father is part of the problem not the solution - but something tells me you won't entertain that idea.

That's very unfair, Petals. Fortunately, I know my friend's child isn't involved with a social worker and there are no such issues with her DH, just a lazy arse.

Ok, accepting that you accept her role (despite going into some detail about why it wasn't key) then yes her husband should be doing his part. However the guidelines do not require the other parent to. Once again wishy washy governing means that others pay the price. In this case the teachers. It sounds like he is a lazy git. Imho this is why guidelines won't work. People are too happy to take the out.

When that list was published it was always on the cards that the school closure system was going to descend into a free for all farce.

The government should have made it crystal clear that BOTH parents had to be key workers and children should only be sent in AS A LAST RESORT. If there is a parent WFH then their children should not be sent in.

I don't think it's going to help some readers read that their children are going to get this virus.
For many, they will be feeling awful about sending them there but have no choice at all.

You say he's at home temporarily as his work has come to a standstill. Once things start to run properly, he might find himself back in work on Wednesday.
If he hears on Monday what's happening and has a clearer picture, it might be he applies for a job elsewhere.

A lot of people won't know until Monday what the week entails. Your PA friend at the moment. You see her sitting around doing very little, as does she. Come Monday, she might find herself in a different department or covering another PA who is off.

A lot of companies have made it very clear, they have to work from home. They cannot be home alone with the children.

Yeah.
And by Friday, she may well find herself running ITU!! - I AM LEG PULLING, FOLKS😊😊😊😊😊

I don't understand why these parents would want their DC to go to school when they could be at home with a parent. Surely if a DC goes down with the virus then the mother will have to self isolate for 14 days so the NHS lose her. The DC should be at home imo

I am fed up of hearing the government saying that our schools are closed , haven't we done well..No they aren't closed, they've become daycare centres and yet another breeding ground. The teachers are sitting ducks and have my sympathy. The list of key workers is endless, everyone plays an important role in keeping todays society going so instead of trying to decide who can go and who cant go just shut the schools totally.

One of my friends is sending her child to school full time as she works at greggs. Food industry therefore technically key worker.
She also only works 16 hours a week and generally opposite hours to her partner so there's someone at home most of the time.

It’s not a ‘perk’, it’s sending your kid to a potentially random school with potentially random kids to be supervised by a potentially random teacher, any of whom may have a potentially deadly virus that the child may take back to the family home, because your job is probably needed to keep the country running.

I wouldn’t send my kid given the choice and I’m one of the ones going to be running it.

People like this are as bad as the twats that think social distancing does not apply to them and the ones bulk buying shit.
I'm just shocked at how many selfish fuckers there are in this world. They've all come out of thier lair this past week!

I don't know really. I'm an admin in a HSC field. I'm not a keyworker, I don't want to be a keyworker, I want to stay out of the way of people doing the saving lives, and look after my child. But my organisation are insisting I am a keyworker and should send my toddler to childcare. What do I do?? Someone more important than me has decided I have to work. Losing my job seems daft. Dying seems worse.

Social distancing is the priority where ever possible.
This mesns there are only TWO scanarios where this provision applies:

1. Two key workers in the family where shifts clash. If shifts don't clash, then child/ren should remain with one parent/carer at home.

2: Single parent key workers with no other child care option.

Everyone else should be practising Social Distancing where ever possible.

This provision isn't a perk to key workers. Its an essential provision to keep key workers at work when they have NO OTHER OPTION. Infact many key workers have no desire to use the service due to the increased risk of exposure ro Covid -19 to their child/ren.

1 key worker and 1 other worker in a family who's working shifts clash should NOT be using thus service. The non key worker is expected to pick up the child care. This is what every other family of 2 non-key workers are having to do. It is not a perk, it's a service for when there is NO other option.

2:

OP, whether you like it or not, your friend is classified as a key worker and isn't breaking the rules, no matter whether you think it's morally right or not. I'm not sure what you want to do about it but I don't think there's much you can do. Apart from fall out with your friend.

I do agree with you though. If her husband is home, their child should be staying home with them, but unless the school stipulate they both have to be key workers they aren't doing anything wrong.

Personally why you'd deliberately expose your child to an illness we still know next to nothing about when you had another option is beyond me.

Why are people criticising the OP and telling her to wind her neck in? In a pandemic, others' business IS our business.

Her friend should be keeping her kids at home with the husband.

Ignore. There's nothing else you can do OP. ATM she thinks her best bet of keeping her kids safe is to keep them away from her partner. Even if that means sorting uniforms/lunches, organising transport and exposing them to higher CV19 risk situations.

One friend is continuing to take her child to nursery as she's a 'key worker' when her husband is temporarily at home as his job has come to a standstill and I'm struggling to be sympathetic

a. Reverse the genders in this OP and the answers would be very different im sure. Like "why on earth does she need nursery for her child if she is now home all day and her job has come to a standstill"

b. there is another thread on here where childless/childfree workers are being ripped into because they are a bit pissed off about WFH only applying to parents and the OP is being told her fellow workers are being selfish/ unreasonable etc yet HERE we have a MAN currently with free time at home who isnt looking after his OWN child and they are using a nursery place instead?? Well whod have thunk it Colour me surprised.

Thought it was "all in this together"

Pffft.

Ah When i posted id only read the first page. I see now others agree.

@SociallyDistanced Unfortunately, only one parent needs to be a key worker

@McDougal I know I'm going to be ripped apart here, but I genuinely would anonymously report them to school... For their own good. Make them realise how wrongly they were behaving.
The school would hugely appreciate the tip off. My DC's school is apparently overwhelmed with the amount of kids who supposedly come under the category of key worker. 91% of all kids the head told me on Friday evening! 91%! What on Earth is the point.
They only have skeleton staff with 8 teachers isolated. She seems to be close to panicking about how on earth they're going to cope

I work in the NHS. She's probably received the same, or similar email I have saying:

"Government has confirmed that ‘key workers’ include ALL NHS staff and our colleagues in the partner organisations who support the delivery of healthcare services. Both parents do not have to be key workers to qualify for this support."

It goes on to say children should be kept at home if possible but communication is clear that all NHS staff are deemed key workers.