Government U-turn on movement of social care staff between care homes ‘right decision’ – RCN
A Government U-turn on plans to ban social care staff moving between care homes is the right decision, a nursing union has said.
The Government said it has decided not to progress with amending regulations to require care home providers to stop staff movement at this time, but said restricting the movement of staff between care settings “remains essential” to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in care homes.
The plans were strongly opposed by trade unions, including the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which felt staff were being scapegoated.
Patricia Marquis (pictured), acting RCN England director, said: “The Government’s climbdown is the right decision.
“We warned last year that this move would have had a significant negative effect on social care staff who may have felt they were being scapegoated for spreading Covid-19 when in fact they are integral to safe and effective care measures to stop cross infection.
“There is a workforce crisis in social care and a ban would have compounded an already-difficult situation.
“A ban would have undermined safe, person-centred care and punished unfairly diligent care home workers.
“The Government needs to come up with a long-term plan for the health and social care workforce urgently.”
The Government hosted a public consultation in November regarding the proposed new regulations to limit staff movement between care homes and other health and care settings.
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