Dear Member
Hi again! We hope you are all well and managed to enjoy the weekend particularly if you had some time off. Apologies, technical difficulties have delayed the issue of this email.
Unfortunately, Lois was unwell with symptoms of the Corona-virus last week and had to take a few days off work. Apologies if this has meant that you have not received a response to a query. Lois is back at work now and will endeavour to respond to all correspondence as quickly as possible.
Volunteer Care Workers
The Council have proposed using volunteers from within their workforce to undertake tasks including personal care and administering medication to fill the gaps left by staff absences. So far as we understand it, this has been restricted to Care Workers from Wirral Evolutions and NHS Staff.
As we have said before, Unison are concerned about the use of volunteers, who are not experienced care workers carrying out the duties of skilled care staff. We are aware of the pressures within the care sector, as absences grow, but we strongly believe that before considering inexperienced volunteers, measures should be taken to support care workers and strengthen the sector.
Wirral Unison and the union more broadly has been campaigning for better working conditions for care workers for a number of years and we have raised specific points since the outbreak of corona virus and the impact it will have on social care. We wrote to senior figures within the Council last Monday raising our concerns about the potential safety implications of using volunteers. On Monday morning we wrote again to the Council making constructive proposals as to how social care could continue to function during this crisis, without the need to rely upon volunteers, by ensuring that the professional care workforce are appropriately supported.
We have raised amongst other points:
• The need for an increase in the pay rates of care workers who agree to work a set number of hours.
• That full sick pay is paid to the sick, self-isolating or vulnerable.
• That the Council assume an oversight for the provision of appropriate PPE across the sector.
• That the Council assume responsibility for recruitment across the sector.
We believe that the above measures will enable the professional social care sector to continue to function at the required level. Of course, we recognise that there are cost implications to these proposals, but this is not a time to be thinking of balanced budgets, but of the health of our communities; even the government have taken this approach.
If, in exceptional circumstances, these measures were not sufficient, and volunteers are required we highlighted some measures that we believed would ensure the safety of the volunteers and clients. We are more than happy to work with the Council on drawing up a framework to protect volunteers, care workers, and the vulnerable in our community. This would involve looking at training, PPE, and working arrangements.
The Council has not (as yet, we hope) engaged in formal discussion with us regarding these proposals. We recognise that Chief Officers and Senior Managers are busy, but this crisis does not negate the importance of consulting with recognised trade unions on matters of health and safety that impact the workforce; indeed we would argue that it is more important than ever to engage with the representatives of the workforce.
We know that not everyone is in a position to volunteer to undertake additional or different tasks, nor should anyone feel obliged to do so. Nevertheless, we recognise that our members and our communities, have responded to the call to support the vulnerable, making food parcels, delivering prescriptions, making welfare calls, and we celebrate that spirit of solidarity.
Mental health and wellbeing
We know that the situation we’re in is challenging for everyone and will impact people in different ways. Wirral Unison welcomes the launch of the new 24/7 mental health phone line from Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. We attach below for your attention some information from the trust that we hope will be helpful if you are experiencing problems related to your mental health as a result of the current crisis.
Urgent help
If your mental or emotional state quickly gets worse or deteriorates, this can be called a ‘mental health crisis’. In this situation, it is important to get help quickly.
Please call 0300 303 3972 and our dedicated local staff will support you to access the help you need.
The phone line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is open to people of all ages – including children and young people.
The phone line is now the first port of call for mental health help – it is operated by people in your local area who will know how best to support you. If you call NHS111 you may have to wait longer for help and will be re-directed to this local service – so call 0300 303 3972.
Please note, A&E and 999 are not the best places to get help for the majority of mental health problems – call 0300 303 3972 to be directed to the best local service to support you.
You should still call 999 or go to A&E if you have an immediate, life-threatening emergency requiring mental or physical health assistance.
For non-urgent help
If you feel that you do not require urgent help, but you would like more information and resources about anxiety, low mood, and the current situation, please refer to our Advice about wellbeing at home page or our dedicated website for children and young people MyMind.org.uk
We hope that you continue to find our regular updates useful and informative and of course welcome your comments and feedback as well as any individual queries; our contact details are, as ever at the bottom of this email.
We want to reach as many of our members as possible through these emails so if you know of any members that aren’t receiving them, please tell them to get in touch so we can add them to our mailing list. Equally, if you are reading this because it has been shared with you and you’re not a member, click the 'Join' button on the homepage.
Stay safe all and we’ll be back in touch later today!
In solidarity!
Lois and Dave
Dave: davidnjones@wirral.gov.uk 07880199539
Lois: loisfounds1@wirral.gov.uk 07384512521
Published on: April 7, 2020