Union calls for 'change' after it found half of Scottish home care workers have never been tested for COVID-19

UNISON, the trade union for social care staff, is calling on the Scottish government to ensure all home care workers are routinely tested for COVID-19.

This demand for regular testing comes after a survey of home care workers across Scotland found half have never been tested for COVID-19.

According to the Nuffield Trust, there are 71,350 domiciliary care workers in Scotland, however, unlike NHS staff and residential care staff, home care workers are not being routinely tested for coronavirus.

The UNISON survey of 300 home care workers also highlighted eight per cent have tested positive, which is higher than workers in the NHS and residential care staff, and much higher than the Scottish population.

'You worry about the people we are caring for because of their vulnerability to this virus’

Mike Kirby, UNISON Scottish secretary said: “UNISON is calling for change. This workforce [is] among the hardest working but lowest paid throughout this pandemic. Without regular testing, care staff worry that they are putting their service users at risk.

"Routine testing is how care staff protect their vulnerable clients and keep infection rates low in the community. This is an urgent issue that needs [to be] dealt with now."

Ensuring home care workers are regularly tested is vital to protecting vulnerable people in care and keeping infection rates low in the community.

Frances Burns, team facilitator and home care worker said: “In my experience, staff are not being routinely tested. If you are a care worker, you worry all the time about the people we are caring for because of their vulnerability to this virus.

"The number of infections and deaths among service users over this pandemic has been heart-breaking for us, and the infection rate amongst staff still remains concerningly high. We cannot go back to when care was such a problem.

"We must improve availability of testing, we need to know the prevalence of the virus in care at home service so we can protect our patients. We need to quickly identify the people who are symptomatic to ensure we prevent further infections in the service. The time to act on this is now."

Dr Donald Macaskill, chief executive of Scottish Care, added: “The women and men who work in home care support thousands to live independently at home.

“A typical day involves frequent visits to different people, and it is therefore critical that we start to urgently test all home care staff.

“We owe it both to keep this dedicated workforce safe and to protect those who they care for.”

UNISON is holding regular meetings with the chair of the Scottish government review of adult social care, Derek Feeley, to highlight the urgency of ensuring home care workers are regularly tested so they can protect their patients and families.