MIL works in care home. Told to ignore self isolate instruction from T&T app

[Sticki]

My MIL works in a large care facility in England.

She has been sent a notification to isolate by her app this morning and has immediately isolated.

She texted her manager to tell her she won't be going in to work tomorrow.
She got a text back to say that a colleague has tested positive and the centre manager says she needs to delete the app and ignore the request to isolate until she is phoned by T & T.

I'm so angry. This manager is risking so many vulnerable people's lives with this instruction and is bullying my MIL.

My MIL is worried about back lash and so won't whistleblow. Can I report it? And to whom?

Advice appreciated.

Was MIL using PPE all the time she was around the colleague?

My daughters school is giving people the choice to NOT isolate if they are a known contact on the T&T scheme. Instead, they can choose to take a lateral flow Covid test every day for for 7 consecutive mornings. I can imagine something similar being used in care homes.

This is standard for care staff and NHS staff - many of whom are around covid positive people every day but in ppe or with covid measures so they are told to switch off the app at work. If she believes she has been exposed to covid via her colleague (perhaps if they were not following procedures) then that's different.

They should have already given staff advice to turn the app off at work if they felt they didn’t have to isolate due to always wearing PPE when close to people at work.

I’m nhs staff and we must not have track and trace turned on at towel for this reason. If I got a notification I’d know it wasn’t a work related exposure and therefore I wasn’t wearing PPE at the time.

Someone I know who works in a school has been told that they have to go into work and take a lateral flow test daily after close contact. If they dont they have to take furlough for the ten days. God knows what the advice would be if the close contact was in the same house. That is a private school and money driven no doubt. They dont want the staff having a extra free time off

My bedbound Dmil has just died from Covid. She only saw carers and district nurses so it only came from one of them. I wonder if they had switched off their T&T app? Please report.

Sorry I should have said that she is admin not front line so doesn't have PPE.

But they should be wearing masks and social distancing at all times in the workplace. Therefore the employer won't expect her to self isolate. It's the same for nhs staff, frontline or not. I don't have the t&t app for this reason. I'd never go to work!

I'm NHS and we're being told not to isolate when we've been notified. We're taking the lateral flow tests.
I got told to isolate due to being around a positive colleague but she was in the next office along to me and I didn't speak to her all day long.

Absolutely, like PPs have said, T&T doesn't count contact if you are wearing appropriate PPE. And the app doesn't know whether you are in appropriate PPE or not, which is why nhs staff are advised that tracking is to be turned off off in patient areas (wards / homes / care homes) as they should be wearing the mandated PPE when providing care. If it wasn't, there would be no staff left as so many patients are covid positive (whether they have symptoms or not).

It's staff choice whether they have it on outside of work or not. It's certainly not mandatory for anyone to even have the app at all, staff are expected to follow the same rules and guidance as the general population when it comes to social distancing outside of work.

Personally, I don't have tracking turned on - it's just too blunt. For example, If I leave my phone in the car and someone who tests positive stands too close to my car, the app could alert me to a contact that wasn't a contact at all, so I don't really trust it in that sense, although I have used it to check in to places when the QR code is available.

So if she was admin (and not wearing PPE (why?)) then she probably didn't come into contact with this person (who should have also been wearing PPE). Why is she not wearing any PPE? Does she wash her hands at work? Sanitise work surfaces throughout the day? She needs to be taking responsibility for herself.

People working in NHS and care home settings should not be using the app at work.

Do people really believe wearing an apron gloves and a surgical mask will prevent you from contracting Covid from a colleague?

It will reduce the chances but not eliminate them.
Whether we believe it or not is not the issue. Those are the rules.
If the care home or a hospital ward has no staff as everyone is off self isolating that is also a risk.
Risks have to be balanced and that is where the line has fallen that a contact in PPE is not a contact.

I work in care. We are told to turn off the app, and we go by what our manager says. They get advice from T&T.

@LegoAndLolDolls

Someone I know who works in a school has been told that they have to go into work and take a lateral flow test daily after close contact. If they dont they have to take furlough for the ten days. God knows what the advice would be if the close contact was in the same house. That is a private school and money driven no doubt. They dont want the staff having a extra free time off

This is what the LFT testing in all schools is for.

@AldiAisleofCrap public health england unfortunately do so that is all we get on all care homes, covid wards except respiratory HDU and ITU. Welcome to our world in the NHS.

@LegoAndLolDolls

Someone I know who works in a school has been told that they have to go into work and take a lateral flow test daily after close contact. If they dont they have to take furlough for the ten days. God knows what the advice would be if the close contact was in the same house. That is a private school and money driven no doubt. They dont want the staff having a extra free time off

This is the plan for state schools as well, just in case people weren’t sure.

Does she keep her phone on her at work or does she leave her bag in a locker or staff room near other staff members phones. Or do other staff leave their phones in the admin office?

If staff keep phones on them at all times and she’s admin staff with no PPE she should be isolating.

How sure is she that the t&t notification is from the colleague, rather than someone behind her in the queue in tesco or something?

Sorry I should have said that she is admin not front line so doesn't have PPE.
For an admin role she wouldn't need gloves and apron, just keep desk clean and hands washed so her PPE is literally just wearing a mask. She shouldn't be inside anywhere without wearing a mask, least of all a care home. Why doesn't she wear one?

If she was genuinely a close contact of the positive colleague then the colleague should report her as such to T&T. Then she will get the phone call and be legally required to isolate. Your MIL should ask the colleague to do this if it is the case.

The app notification isn’t a legal requirement and many workplaces are doing the same as your MIL’s care home.

My state school, trust and the LA are going further than the testing with lateral flow tests because of their lack of reliability - we are still asking close contacts of a positive to self isolate.

Do people really believe wearing an apron gloves and a surgical mask will prevent you from contracting Covid from a colleague?

Those forms of PPE are supposed to mostly stop transmission from active covid cases. They should work even better to prevent transmission from an asymptomatic colleague.

Care home worker here and we are told the same.

Should I add we must turn it off whilst on shift. Because PPE means we don't need to isolate when we have contact with another positive employee.