Emergency Message for NPS and CRC Senior Management Teams

The following has just been privately emailed to me, along with other material from other worried and concerned staff. I was going to publish it tomorrow as a 'Guest Blog', but do you know what, that simply doesn't do it justice and I want the content read widely now and action to follow speedily. Every probation worker expects Senior Management to do their duty now!

COVID19, Probation Workers and ‘duty of care’

Gracchus: “Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, sire?”
Commodus: “No, but if you interrupt me again, I assure you that you will.”

Please can somebody explain to the ‘Commoduses’ Boris Johnson, Amy Rees, Sonia Crozier, Central Government and all the Probation Service (NPS and CRC) Directors that ‘probation workers’ are no longer able to work in a face to face setting as in relation to COVID-19, it is “dangerous and not advisable to do so”.

The government has listed probation workers as key-workers but this doesn’t mean we can be put at risk. We are not provided gloves, masks and hazmat suits. We are not allowed early in supermarkets. We are not provided immediate health care. We are not paid extra money. In fact the pay rise some colleagues were expecting has just been cancelled. We have a ‘duty of care’ in the job we do, but this does not mean we have a ‘duty’ to get sick and die for the job.

In the last week my probation colleagues have been dropping like flies. One by one they have been falling sick to suspected or actual Coronavirus. The offenders on probation have been falling sick, and many are oblivious and think it’s “just a cough”. The older ones think they’ll catch it regardless. The younger ones think they’re immune. Neither are washing their hands or using tissues. This is how part of my week went.

I started the week tired because I haven’t been able to buy enough food. I have to work 9-5 and shops are empty before and after. I have so far been lucky searching for stock first thing in the morning, but the queues are now horrendous and people are coughing in the queues. Lunchtime is the same, there is hardly any food in the shops and the queues. There’s rumours the workers at the local Greggs and Tesco have Coronavirus, who caught it from customers, so I can’t go there any more. Even if I had food to bring in I can’t store or heat it properly as a colleague who is sick with Coronavirus was using the work fridge and microwave. They’re now “out of order”.

This week started with a lot of concern of offenders coughing in the reception area. Most do not fully understand the threat. Some do not care. Some are unable to care. Offenders are congregating outside the office in groups. We have to walk through them to get into the office. Doors are not automatic. We don’t have masks, gloves or gel, except where self provided. There is no direction from managers except “business as usual”. We have tried to cancel most meetings, including team meetings, and are using Skype. We have tried to keep our distance from each other. We have been washing our hands for 20 seconds, but it’s not enough. I am now worried for myself and my family that I may not have done enough.

By midweek a number of colleagues have phoned in sick with suspected Coronavirus. The receptionist too. All believe they caught it by seeing offenders at the probation office. All have been mixing with other colleagues. This was the period offenders in probation hostels began phoning saying the virus is spreading there. There are too many people living together. Most have nowhere to go. They want somebody to help them but their probation officers are now sick and self isolating. Those in prisons are saying the same. Everyone’s trying to transfer cases, arrange prison releases and to get others to cover their face to face appointments. It’s not possible to keep up with the demands.

By the end of the week hardly any colleagues are left in the office. There are widespread rumours of colleagues in other offices falling sick. Every time one goes down there is a domino effect and others fall sick too. Managers continue to tell and email us it’s “business as usual”. Directors continue to email us “business as usual”. The other line they’re using is “we’re all going to catch it anyway”. I think they’d change their mind if they had to sit in front of an infected and coughing service user just released from prison. I phoned Napo Union for advice and they told me they were busy. Napo are not seeing members face to face and are working remotely. Why haven’t they instructed members to do the same?

I ended the week sitting in my office with a sign on the door “do not enter”. There were only two of us still at work and we were both worried for our own safety. I have gloves I bought myself. I have cancelled all my appointments. I have worked from home as much as possible this week. I have arranged to phone each offender once a week. I’ve told my manager I will do this from home. I fall into a vulnerable group. My colleagues across the area are not so lucky as they have been told to return on Monday, or when their 14 day self isolation ends.

There’s a rumour our probation office will be moved to a bigger office. This means increased numbers of colleagues and service users travelling to and working from a concentrated location. This is a shocking decision as even more colleagues and offenders will fall sick. I don’t think Probation managers and directors understand how serious this Coronavirus is. They do not understand what “social distancing” is. If I was not now working from home I would have to give up my job. I could not work another day in a Probation Office. There is no protective equipment. There is no proper cleaning of the buildings. There is no consideration of our health and safety. Many of us have health problems, children and elderly relatives, yet we are expected to sit with infected and potentially infected colleagues and offenders and those released from infected prisons.

Probation Officer