Where is Boris going to get all these spare staff from to redeploy across the public sectors? What is going on across ALL sectors? Something has got to give.

[ItchySnoof]

Schools are apparently going to use support staff for Teaching roles so the schools stay open. He has now also declared that NHS staff will be redeployed to "fill the gaps". The problem is there are no staff to fill the existing roles!

Where are these staff going to be magically pulled from? How can he expect low paid teaching assistants to fill in for teachers?

A video was recently released by our Trust (on behalf of the entire county) begging relatives of patients to take their loved ones in so they can discharge them and free up beds because we are over capacity and have zero staff to actually man the wards as it is.

Honestly, the whole world of employment seems to have collapsed in on itself. Shops, pubs and restaurants are closing all over the show, offices can't function unless staff can WFH, and management can't hire people into ANY of these roles, regardless of sector, because they refuse to be flexible and/or pay people (especially Key Workers) more.

Something has got to give because this is totally and utterly unsustainable across the board.

Thank you Espresso, that's kind.

But they aren't coming home to roost. Boris Johnson isn't holding a press conference about the social care crisis and imploring Great Britain to roll up their sleeves and pitch in.

No one is offering golden handshakes for people to join the care industry. Or declaring a major incident.

Old and disabled people are actually being left in pain, with no one to take them to the toilet or feed them or keep them safe.

And the government response is ....

Well, as usual the care staff will get the blame for individual cases of neglect in homes where lack of staff is the real reason that it's happening.
Care companies run on a shoe string staff budget, staffing is supposed to take account of the number of residents and their needs, it never does, needs increase and staffing doesn't. Numbers decrease and staffing also decreases though. Short staffed shifts see the absent person's wage in the pocket of the provider, the staff picking up the slack don't get extra, the residents don't get a refund.
It's been going on for years, and then we lost unvaccinated care staff. Now we've got staff isolating because of catching covid (and being given the 3rd degree about how they caught it and doubted/treated like liars when they test positive on an LFT in some cases.) And the rest of us left holding the fort are being worked into the ground, badgered non stop for even more overtime, and getting blamed for the lack of care, while the care companies make more profit from running shifts short staffed.
When people start tripping over the elderly and vulnerable in the street, or having to change their lives to look after their own families that need care they might start giving a shit that the above is causing this problem.
I've spent this morning applying for jobs out of social care. I can't do it any more. I'm going, and I'll be taking my experience with me, I'm dedicated but I will not be party to, or blamed for this any longer.
It should be a national scandal, but relatively few people care enough to even think about it.

@123MothergotafleA

Just talking to a lady from West Yorkshire about the huge numbers of NHS staff who are off sick/ shielding etc They are all being instructed to attend their Occupational Health department for a PCR test " within two hours" of reporting sick etc. I think this is a really good initiative and will surely help solve problem of staff absence ( be it for legitimate or other reasons)

That is assuming staff are not legitimately ill.

What happens to the jobs support staff do? If the cleaners, janitor, dinner ladies, receptionist are supervising classes then does that mean no school cleaning, no phones answered, no lunch?

Socialcare has been one of the hardest hit. Staff leaving due to poor pay and working conditions and forced vaccination. Care homes closing due to getting no staff and services being stopped for some people due to no funding or again no staff

Some of my sixth form students have taken jobs in care homes to cover weekends and evenings. Given that we aren't going to be teaching them in school (with so many teachers off it will just be a holding pen) maybe we should be creative and grant them leave of absence to the care sector for e.g. a month each, with a report written by their supervisor and count some credit towards an award or qualification alongside their A levels. A levels would have to be adapted and/or TAGS but I can't see that they won't have to be anyway at this rate.

@PastMyBestBeforeDate

It's hard to see Espresso. The message that my family don't matter has been heard loud and clear.

What @DoubleShotEspresso said, plus - and I cannot stress this enough - I'm 100% sure that some of the repellant views expressed on some covid threads are not shared by the majority.

The people who express them are either psychopaths or trolls.

Or both.

One too many Somes there, but you get my gist

@SchrodingersUnicorn

Some of my sixth form students have taken jobs in care homes to cover weekends and evenings. Given that we aren't going to be teaching them in school (with so many teachers off it will just be a holding pen) maybe we should be creative and grant them leave of absence to the care sector for e.g. a month each, with a report written by their supervisor and count some credit towards an award or qualification alongside their A levels. A levels would have to be adapted and/or TAGS but I can't see that they won't have to be anyway at this rate.

I think that is a terrible idea. This age of young people has already had their education severely disrupted by the pandemic. Giving them time out of school to fill shortages in underpaid jobs is not the solution.

Thank you Miles.

@Candlealmond

It is a disgrace. I work in early years and a majority of our workforce is on sick leave.

Doesn’t help it is paid full whack so people are off constantly for every reason under the sun and continually off with Covid multiple times as it isn’t counted against absence and you get paid your full salary no matter how many times you ‘catch’ it

Another full lockdown needs to be declared ASAP, shutting the schools apart for essential key worker children

I’m so confused by this. People taking the piss of sick leave isn’t a reason to lockdown.

Are you suggesting that they don’t really have Covid and are using it as an excuse to get sick leave? In which case, why on earth is lockdown the solution?
And if they’re not lying and they do actually have Covid, then … great? They’re isolating and getting paid to isolate… that’s what a lot of people in other industries would love.

Still why is lockdown a solution? I’d rather limp on for a few months with us all just about coping and then coming out the other side than forcing a lockdown and the HUGE economic and mental health implications.

I hate that lockdown is the default answer to any kind of pressure the country is under right now. Lockdown should be the last resort, used once or never a generation.

The balance has tipped. The isolation period is now affecting society, non-covid health and the economy more than the virus itself. Very soon we will have to stop testing the general population and just test those hospitalised. And thank goodness for that!

@Scottishgirl85 and what about those going into hospital and GP surgeries? A friend has just had a scan in hospital delayed because she tested positive for covid. She has it mildly. But if she went in for her test to the local hospital she could give it to someone undergoing chemo for example and kill them.

@RoyalFamilyFan I mentioned to still test those hospitalised
It will end up going this way, it's just a decision for government as to when to make the switch to only test people in certain situations.

[quote Scottishgirl85]@RoyalFamilyFan I mentioned to still test those hospitalised
It will end up going this way, it's just a decision for government as to when to make the switch to only test people in certain situations.[/quote]
How well did that go in March/April 2020?

Just talking to a lady from West Yorkshire about the huge numbers of NHS staff who are off sick/ shielding etc

@123MothergotafleA

Who is shielding? What do you mean by that?

Some people have been advised by their consultants to continue to be ultra-cautious. Still shielding, to all intents and purposes.

@kittensinthekitchen we're in a totally different situation now with vaccines!! If you want to be testing forever you will be very disappointed. I hope by Spring testing will start to be scaled back.

[quote Scottishgirl85]@kittensinthekitchen we're in a totally different situation now with vaccines!! If you want to be testing forever you will be very disappointed. I hope by Spring testing will start to be scaled back.[/quote]
Where did I suggest that I want testing to carry on forever? 🤣

I hope by Spring the need to test will be reduced. Fingers crossed 🤞

Apparently in America the CDC have told covid positive healthcare staff if their symptoms are mild they should come into work and carry on with patient facing care. Maybe Boris will announce that!

I believe that the culture of mass testing which has developed in this country is a huge part of the problem. An earlier poster mentioned that it can't be as bad as the 2020 lockdown. I disagree. We weren't asking the general population to test for every sniffle back then and asymptomatic testing for the masses wasn't a thing. Now we have people who are completely healthy testing themselves, sometimes daily. Of course we will suffer the consequences of these people then isolating for a minimum of 7 days.

Of course we will suffer the consequences of these people then isolating for a minimum of 7 days.

As opposed to these people spreading around a very transmissible virus. Yeah, the staying at home is the MUCH bigger problem.

It's like when my friend found out leading from a routine smear that she had cervical cancer. If only she hadn't bothered, I'm sure she'd have still been alive for her partner and three young kids. This culture of mass testing women for cervix changes MUST STOP. That would have saved her years of pain, disability and death.

@kittensinthekitchen

You really cannot compare cervical cancer to covid. Untreated cancer kills everyone, covid most certainly does not.

A person's untreated cancer will only effect them (health- and death-wise)

A transmissible virus is much further reaching than that.

Identifying and isolating people who have covid is about reducing the spread, so reducing the risk of passing it to someone who may suffer adverse effects (not limited to just death). Encouraging people to spread it regardless of how well they may be feeling is unthinkable to most people.

I don't know why I still feel so astounded at this "But I'm okay" mentality that so many people seem to have.

It's so odd when people don't join the dots.

I mean, I have cancer, and covid is much more likely to kill me than most. If people don't test, I'm more at risk.

(I know, I know, it's my choice, I should get back in my cupboard).