Nurse training and working

Rach68

My daughter has worked in a care home for the last three years and is a senior care worker. Because she enjoys her work so much she has decided to do an access course at college so she can go to university to do her nursing training.  She had the full backing of her employer and had arranged to work part-time and attend college part-time. Now due to the covid-19 guidelines they will not allow her to work while she attends college. Should she be paid? Or can she get some gov help
Surely they cannot end her employment over this? She needs the income to keep herself while she is in college. Any advice would be much appreciated. 

Andy_L

What does her part time contract say? Is it set hours or is it a zero-hours contract? If it is the latter then they can just give her zero hours. If the former then it gets more complicated

Rach68

It's fixed hours 

MidsHollie

Hi @Rach68
I’m surprised that any work place can dictate what you can and can’t do in the hours when you are not at work. But maybe there is guidance that says they can. 

I know this doesn’t really solve the problem, but could she sign up to the staff bank at a local hospital and do health care assistant shifts? I’m sure there would be plenty of work and she will make contacts as well for when she is graduating and looking for a job.
wishing her all the best.

elsien

Which bit of the guidelines have they said mean that she can’t do both? I’d be asking them for the specifics and a relevant risk assessment as a starting point,

unforeseen

The care home need to risk manage their place and see the op attending college where they are in close contact with other people with minimum precautions as an unacceptable risk to their residents.
There stance is totally understandable. 
They can not eliminate risk altogether but need to minimise it as much as possible. Because of the nature of the residents of a care home then any instance of Covid is very serious and will probably result in deaths. 

Aranyani

Do they think she will be working on hospital wards as part of the access course and don’t want to risk her bringing Covid into the home?  

billy2shots

Us in care have been given strict guidelines  not to share staff between different health locations. 

A nursing course will involve workplacments which go against the guidance we have been given in care homes. We have to complete daily online audits and weekly phone meetings and address this very point. 

The government has provided grants that can be applied for by the home to pay staff not to attend another job in a health setting. How this works for training I am unsure. 

I would say the home is perfectly allowed to ask your daughter not to attend work as it has to protect its residents and staff. If the grant has been apllied for then she could still get paid. The other option is to work and delay the nursing course for a year. 
 

Aranyani

I think the access course is just college based though, isn't it?  No placements until the degree.

billy2shots

Aranyani said:

I think the access course is just college based though, isn't it?  No placements until the degree.

 Unfortunately it's the same principle. 

Person A works at care home A,
Person B works at care home B , they attend the same course and boom. 

An employer knowing that someone attending a situation that mixes with others from heath is under so much pressure to minimise the risk if spread. 
We can look at employment rights, peoples choices etc but I get the feeling the government will turn more of a blind eye given the situation. 

I spent a good 10 minutes of an hour phonecall on Friday, explaining to the local authority that I can not dictate staff private lives and have to trust they are following guidelines whilst away from work. The LA also seem to think I should force staff to have their annual flu vaccine and weekly covid test that I carry out / provide.  I told them I encourage but can not insist. 

Waters are very much muddied at present. 

Aranyani

billy2shots said:

Aranyani said:

I think the access course is just college based though, isn't it?  No placements until the degree.

 Unfortunately it's the same principle. 

Person A works at care home A,
Person B works at care home B , they attend the same course and boom. 

An employer knowing that someone attending a situation that mixes with others from heath is under so much pressure to minimise the risk if spread. 
We can look at employment rights, peoples choices etc but I get the feeling the government will turn more of a blind eye given the situation. 

I spent a good 10 minutes of an hour phonecall on Friday, explaining to the local authority that I can not dictate staff private lives and have to trust they are following guidelines whilst away from work. The LA also seem to think I should force staff to have their annual flu vaccine and weekly covid test that I carry out / provide.  I told them I encourage but can not insist. 

Waters are very much muddied at present. 

But what if the employee lives with another health worker?  Or has them in their friends and family circle?