Inadequate payments to bereaved families and care workers
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Version 0 of 1. Letters: Prof David Humphreys says the payment announced for bereaved families is just a token gesture, while Fiona Murrell says care home staff need to be given better sick pay News that a payment will be made to the families of NHS workers who have died after contracting coronavirus is overdue (Grieving NHS families say £60,000 cannot make up for loss, 27 April). But any payment must fully reflect the enormous sacrifice that has been made and ensure that bereaved families are fully compensated for the loss of income with which they will have to cope in the years ahead; £60,000 is just a token gesture. When he was mayor of London, Boris Johnson described the £250,000 a year he received for writing a newspaper column as “chicken feed” before dismissing a journalist’s questions on the subject as “frivolous”. How, therefore, would he justify paying less than quarter of that to the families of NHS staff whose compassion and commitment to others has led to them losing their own lives?Prof David HumphreysThe Open University • My son works in a care home where, in the past few weeks, there has been a rise in coronavirus cases and some deaths. He is paid £9.50 an hour to care for people who are often critically ill, with only their frontline care workers to comfort them. Care workers receive statutory sick pay of £95.85 a week, but only after four days, if they fall ill or suspect they have coronavirus. Currently, the care home is not able to employ agency staff so if a care worker falls sick there is no one to replace them, putting more strain on the already overstretched staff. If the government really wants to address the coronavirus deaths in care homes, it needs to consider not only providing testing kits but also increasing statutory sick pay so that care workers are not forced to decide between caring for the vulnerable, with the possibility of passing on the virus, and living in poverty at home without money to feed themselves. Is this really how we want to reward our care workers?Fiona MurrellHorsham, West Sussex • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters |