And meanwhile, the MoJ has still not issued definitive instructions for safe probation working practices or taken action on prisoner releases. Regarding the former, I notice the Probation Institute issued this yesterday:-
Dear Readers,
Since the government restrictions were introduced to prevent the spread of Covid 19 we have seen different accounts of the management of the safety of staff and service users in Probation Services. We have looked at various websites to ascertain what guidance is being put in place in view of the importance of probation work, and the evident risks.
Currently neither HMPPS nor NPS websites have any specific information about the way in which the pandemic is being managed in Probation. There is considerable information concerning work in the prisons. A statement communicated through the BBC last week indicated that individuals supervised in the community by NPS will be supervised remotely except for sex offenders and other violent offenders who would be interviewed by phone at their own place of living.
Looking at eight CRC websites the messages vary from no reference to Covid 19 to detailed explanation of how services are being delivered during the emergency. Most staff are working from home. The majority of individuals will be supervised remotely by CRCs with specific exceptions including new prison leavers. Programmes and Unpaid Work are closed. London CRC state that they are using only the nine offices shared with NPS; we assume this may increase travel requirements for some staff.
General Health and Safety Legislation https://www.hse.gov.uk/workers/employers.htm#
Towards a lasting legacy for prisons from the coronavirus crisis
In a few short weeks, we have all had to adjust to a very different reality. In the face of the immediate threat posed by coronavirus, governments across the world have acted decisively and swiftly. The crisis has focused minds and prompted action in ways that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago.
In the UK, the government has been criticised for doing too little, too late, to contain the spread of coronavirus. Whatever the merits, or otherwise, of this as a general criticism, there is little doubt that in our prisons the potential crisis is very real, and growing.
The over 90,000 prisoners across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, unable to take the routine precautions of most citizens, are at particular risk of infection.
Yesterday we learned that an 84-year-old prisoner in Littlehey and another elderly prisoner in Manchester had died after contracting coronavirus. There will be more cases in the days ahead. Last week, researchers at Imperial College London estimated that an uncontrolled outbreak of coronavirus infection in prisons in England and Wales could result in 800 deaths. Some consider this to be an under-estimate.
At the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies we support prisoners and prison staff trying to reduce the risk of infection in prison. Next week we will be embarking on a project with a number of partner organisations to assess the coronavirus situation in prisons across Europe and explore how different prison administrations are trying, or failing, to prevent infection and save lives.
Beyond the necessary, short-term measures to reduce the harm of coronavirus in prison, we also need a longer-term agenda. Across the UK, far too many prisoners, many of them elderly or with underlying health conditions, are being held in overcrowded, unsanitary, unhealthy prisons.
If an institution was to be invented with the express intention of maximising the spread of coronavirus, and of concentrating it among those most likely to be vulnerable to it, that institution would probably look much like a prison. We can't go on like this.
Over recent weeks I have been among those calling for an immediate managed release of some prisoners, as part of a wider programme to reduce the risk of infection in prison. This is a call that is now supported by a growing number of people. The government must act on this, and now.
The wasteful churn short prison sentences cause is well-recognised. The current context should give fresh urgency to ending it. Our short prison sentencing project will be seeking to influence just that, both making the case for immediate reform as well as seeking to secure the system changes necessary over the longer term.
And through our After Prison programme, we will be making the case for the long-term closure of much our prison estate. Prisons are a nineteenth century solution to a twenty-first century problem. There is always a better way to use a piece of land than as a place for a prison.
The coronavirus crisis has shone a light on the wider, and pre-existing, malaise in prisons. A fundamental rethink of our use of prisons would be a small, but important, gain to have come from the current crisis we are in.
Dear Readers,
Since the government restrictions were introduced to prevent the spread of Covid 19 we have seen different accounts of the management of the safety of staff and service users in Probation Services. We have looked at various websites to ascertain what guidance is being put in place in view of the importance of probation work, and the evident risks.
Currently neither HMPPS nor NPS websites have any specific information about the way in which the pandemic is being managed in Probation. There is considerable information concerning work in the prisons. A statement communicated through the BBC last week indicated that individuals supervised in the community by NPS will be supervised remotely except for sex offenders and other violent offenders who would be interviewed by phone at their own place of living.
Looking at eight CRC websites the messages vary from no reference to Covid 19 to detailed explanation of how services are being delivered during the emergency. Most staff are working from home. The majority of individuals will be supervised remotely by CRCs with specific exceptions including new prison leavers. Programmes and Unpaid Work are closed. London CRC state that they are using only the nine offices shared with NPS; we assume this may increase travel requirements for some staff.
General Health and Safety Legislation https://www.hse.gov.uk/workers/employers.htm#
requires the employer to provide a safe place of work and to guard against foreseeable risk of injury. The employer should provide a safety statement available to all employees and a specific risk assessment.
Concerns about safe working practices should be referred to the trade unions. Napo has issued a number of statements: https://www.napo.org.uk/covid-19-emergency
Unison also; https://www.unison.org.uk/tag/covid-19/
However, If you or colleagues would like to talk with some of the directors of the Probation Institute about any professional issues concerning Probation work and the Covid 19 pandemic we would like to invite you to join a Zoom "Probation Institute Meeting" on Monday 6th April at 5pm. If you would like to join please send an email to maryannemcfarlane@gmail.com We will then send you an invitation to join us on Zoom.
Wishing everyone the very best at this difficult time, stay safe.
Helen Schofield
Acting Chief Executive
Concerns about safe working practices should be referred to the trade unions. Napo has issued a number of statements: https://www.napo.org.uk/covid-19-emergency
Unison also; https://www.unison.org.uk/tag/covid-19/
However, If you or colleagues would like to talk with some of the directors of the Probation Institute about any professional issues concerning Probation work and the Covid 19 pandemic we would like to invite you to join a Zoom "Probation Institute Meeting" on Monday 6th April at 5pm. If you would like to join please send an email to maryannemcfarlane@gmail.com We will then send you an invitation to join us on Zoom.
Wishing everyone the very best at this difficult time, stay safe.
Helen Schofield
Acting Chief Executive
31st March 2020
Regarding the latter, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies published the following on Friday:-
In a few short weeks, we have all had to adjust to a very different reality. In the face of the immediate threat posed by coronavirus, governments across the world have acted decisively and swiftly. The crisis has focused minds and prompted action in ways that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago.
In the UK, the government has been criticised for doing too little, too late, to contain the spread of coronavirus. Whatever the merits, or otherwise, of this as a general criticism, there is little doubt that in our prisons the potential crisis is very real, and growing.
The over 90,000 prisoners across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, unable to take the routine precautions of most citizens, are at particular risk of infection.
Yesterday we learned that an 84-year-old prisoner in Littlehey and another elderly prisoner in Manchester had died after contracting coronavirus. There will be more cases in the days ahead. Last week, researchers at Imperial College London estimated that an uncontrolled outbreak of coronavirus infection in prisons in England and Wales could result in 800 deaths. Some consider this to be an under-estimate.
At the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies we support prisoners and prison staff trying to reduce the risk of infection in prison. Next week we will be embarking on a project with a number of partner organisations to assess the coronavirus situation in prisons across Europe and explore how different prison administrations are trying, or failing, to prevent infection and save lives.
Beyond the necessary, short-term measures to reduce the harm of coronavirus in prison, we also need a longer-term agenda. Across the UK, far too many prisoners, many of them elderly or with underlying health conditions, are being held in overcrowded, unsanitary, unhealthy prisons.
If an institution was to be invented with the express intention of maximising the spread of coronavirus, and of concentrating it among those most likely to be vulnerable to it, that institution would probably look much like a prison. We can't go on like this.
Over recent weeks I have been among those calling for an immediate managed release of some prisoners, as part of a wider programme to reduce the risk of infection in prison. This is a call that is now supported by a growing number of people. The government must act on this, and now.
The wasteful churn short prison sentences cause is well-recognised. The current context should give fresh urgency to ending it. Our short prison sentencing project will be seeking to influence just that, both making the case for immediate reform as well as seeking to secure the system changes necessary over the longer term.
And through our After Prison programme, we will be making the case for the long-term closure of much our prison estate. Prisons are a nineteenth century solution to a twenty-first century problem. There is always a better way to use a piece of land than as a place for a prison.
The coronavirus crisis has shone a light on the wider, and pre-existing, malaise in prisons. A fundamental rethink of our use of prisons would be a small, but important, gain to have come from the current crisis we are in.
Richard Garside
27th March 2020
From Byline Times
ReplyDeleteI have worked for Conservative lobby groups. I have worked for the Brexit campaign. I have drunk with the people running this country; partied with them; cried with them; dined with them; and loved them. They were a community that supported me, people who came to me for compassion and emotional support. I was the friend they called “wet” for my liberal beliefs, but “smart” for my prowess in the digital landscape.
Before the Coronavirus hit Britain, conservative thought leaders were reintroducing eugenics into political discourse, arguing in favour of its legitimacy under the guise of ‘free speech’. The idea that one person is better than another because of their genetic makeup, or because of the cards they were dealt with before they were even born, is an ideology rooted in the very fabric of British society. ‘Better’ in this day and age translates almost always as being more economically productive or ‘smarter’. We have come far. But not as far as Britain would like to believe.
I have been in rooms with Conservative politicians and hacks where discussions around the NHS have centred around its privatisation. Behind closed (and sometimes even open) doors, the ideas are the same and often lack much nuance. Just pick up some research papers by Tufton Street think tanks and see for yourself.
Discussion centres around a simple idea that anything funded by the state is wrong. Many of these people reiterate the same one-liners to each other so much that they are convinced that there is no other way. At private dinners, I have heard public workers depicted as enemies of progress, the civil service conveyed as pointless and many key public services that make Britain what it is referred to as a nuisance. Whether it is care workers, teachers, nurses, doctors, civil servants, it does not matter – all of their roles can be replaced by the private sector and, in the eyes of many Conservative politicians, they should be.
“The NHS doesn’t need reform, it just needs to be sold-off,” is a phrase I have heard used at these private dinners. Along with: “Publicly-funded care workers aren’t essential, if people are getting old they should have worked hard when they were younger. Why should taxes pay for their laziness?” I have heard them jest “but what about Grenfell!” at the television whenever someone who asks for more funding for the NHS is being interviewed.
There is a deep-rooted culture, disseminated by influential lobby groups who are platformed by the media, of seeing public funding as an enemy of progress. It is purely ideological, based not in economic theory or academia, but entirely on a regurgitation of political statements.
The public is cognitively dissonant to this because the actions of politicians are not critiqued by our journalists or media broadcasters. People are fed lies about how politicians are seeking to help them, rather than being told that there are vested ideological and financial interests in the policy decisions being made by these politicians.
As someone who has given up years of his life and experienced so much trauma merely for trying to protect British democracy from corruption, I know that we are in the middle of, not just a public health crisis, but a political one too. Disinformation is rife, hypocrisy even more so. While we must all unite to come out of the Coronavirus crisis, we must critique the very systems that have made us ill-prepared, and also understand how our livelihoods can be put at risk as a result of political decisions.
Boris Johnson and his Cabinet do not love the NHS, they are ideologically against the very fundamental idea of public healthcare. It goes against every research paper and book they love; against the desires of the millionaires who set up their lobby groups and policy think tanks. It is fundamentally a project that does not fit in their free market utopia.
DeleteI implore Conservatives to pull themselves out of this bubble and see the bigger picture, to understand the nuances of policy decisions that have been made and take action to protect the NHS. We must also appreciate that the hands that ‘clap for carers’, are the same hands placing a cross in the ballot box to vote in individuals who I believe do not have their best interests at heart, least of all when it comes to the NHS.
Johnson’s handling of the Coronavirus may be perceived by some to be an example of strong leadership. But, when this crisis is over, that same leadership will be turned against the very things we cherish most in times like this.
Shamir Sanni
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/03/31/behind-closed-doors-johnson-and-his-cabinet-do-not-applaud-the-nhs-they-ideologically-oppose-it/
My subscription to a home delivered Byline Times is money very well spent. one of the editors is friend of probation (as a local reporter she covered Mr Grayling's constituency) Hardeep Mathura https://subscribe.bylinetimes.com/
DeleteToday could see the landmark of 1m known cases worldwide & 50,000 deaths.
ReplyDeleteJim rightly makes reference to the UK govt's sleight of hand regarding facts. The PPE & testing kits have been 'imminent' for weeks but don't seem to have materialised as yet. The answers given at the briefings are never answers to the questions asked. Meds for cancer patients are possibly being diverted to mitigate Covid-19 symptoms to keep the NHS viable. Many very significant decisions are being made by a tiny handful of 'experts', many of whom don't seem to agree with each other. Its a mess, not a conspiracy.
The only possible consiracy is the conspiracy of silence, i.e. the govt refusing to admit what a clusterfuck everything has become because they CHOSE to impose austerity, they LIED, they prospered as the nation's infrastructure crumbled. Now its coming home to roost & they haven't the courage or integrity to admit its of their making. Jeremy *unt is reinventing himself as some kind of NHS guardian angel with a view to being PM when Johnson quits on health grounds; Gove has his eyes on No10; Raab's been measuring up the curtains...
Which Weasel Would you Want?
Check out todya's just delivered "Private Eye" they pull no punches and succinctly expose the contradictions from Mr johns and his governement in their front page cartoon and opening news page - official publication date Friday 3rd April 202 but will be available in many places already.
Deleteit also comes by podcast - which is free
https://private-eye.co.uk/
“NPS will be supervised remotely except for sex offenders and other violent offenders who would be interviewed by phone at their own place of living.”
ReplyDeleteTotally pointless and inaccurate from the PROBATION INSTITUTE. Both NPS and CRCs across England and Wales are seeing offenders in probation offices. This is even in London where cases of infection are high. There is no PPE. Offices are not properly cleaned. Offices are open meaning zero social distancing by staff. Doorstep visits require staff to travel on public transport is the do not drive. It’s chaos.
... And all the ongoing and pending prisoners released are required to attend at least one appointment at a probation office within 1 day of release. The PI has signed a petition for all short term prisoners to be released, without any thought of the probation officer that’ll be forced to see them !
DeleteLook at the leadership of the institute Mary Anne Mc Farlane Mike McClelland Helen Schofield and a cluch of sell outs and hangers on. They could not meaningfully contribute to a charity by throwing money . Let alone supporting probation staff.
DeleteHas anyone else noticed the very vauge response from senior management to the unions on concerns raised by prison staff. On the one hand it is stated we are NPS employees then that any decision must be taken locally by management in conjunction with the prison. The unions have not indicated any further pressing of management on this but how will this work when it's already clear that prison management are overruling Spos. Also locally means that some Spos will implement decisions others won't, looks like scapegoating or at the very least pushing responsibility downwards. Prisons are expecting NPS staff to do work which is not critical so what happens next?
ReplyDeleteRussia has 40,000 ventilators, stacks of PPE and is building a purpose built Hospital.
ReplyDeletePutin prepared.
We are being told to get people in if they do not answer the phone. We have no phones for them to phone back as we are having to use our own phones No protection in the office. Asking people to travel when gov are telling them to stay home.
ReplyDeleteWe’ll somebody please tell Helen Schofield, Acting Chief Executive, Probation Institute as she’s issuing inaccurate statements that everything in probation is hunky dory !
DeleteSchofield been acting for four years plus and still useless.
DeleteI don't have much truck with Toby Young's views in general, but the arguments he sets out are not new and have a wider currency. He is right to note that NICE operates quality of life judgements when authorising new forms of treatment. And he's also right to highlight some of the deadly impacts of a declining economy, in terms of increasing levels of poverty and suicide rates that increase during deep recessions. It's also widely accepted that there will be overlaps between the figures of those who die from coronavirus and those who would have died anyway. It's also worth noting that the use of ventilators will be rationed through triage (Death Panels?), in which age and comorbidities will determine cut off points for ventilation. The same will occur in the UK. When it comes to healthcare we will not all have equal entitlements.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you put your cross on the nazi party next election. How stupid to suggest a full recession after and duringa pandemic that kills all it is high time with the amount of UK reserves now being discovered or at least released the future should be a more social care government and resolve all the ills you mention.
DeletePrisons have an ageing population, and many prisoners have underlying health issues. As with the 50 pregnant prisoners that are being released, should the MoJ not be focusing on releasing prisoners that really need to be released because of the the threat the virus poses to them, rather then looking at particular cohorts based on sentence?
ReplyDelete'Getafix
Feeling quite angry today. Partner is NHS worker but has a chronic health condition so is working from home. In tears at least three times today following emails from NHS management who are emotionally bullying staff.
ReplyDeleteWhilst (rightly) celebrating those who are making it in to the hospitals and volunteering to be redeployed frontline they are explicitly tugging at the emotions of other staff: "So we ask if you could possibly join the ranks of our local NHS Heroes, put in a shift and help save lives."
Er, no. Unfortunately my partner cannot do that. Her health will be placed 'at significant risk' according to her doctor, who insisted she isolate at home. She is therefore lawfully, properly & appropriately working from home.
But she's being made to feel 'less than', excluded from the 'heroic' work being done by others who can and feel able to volunteer. Her most recent moment of despair followed a telephone call with a colleague who, despite only recently finishing chemotherapy for an aggressive cancer, says he has decided "they're obviously desperate, I've been off for ages already, I simply must pitch in and help."
If he gets the coronavirus it will kill him as his immune system is utterly fucked at the moment.
Hero? Dimwit? Or a victim of carefully-crafted Bullying?
My partner's job? What can she do from home that's of any use? Oh dear, you got me there. Silly me. That'll be why. She *can't* be a Hero if she's not plugging in ventilators or wheeling beds about with little or no PPE.
For the last ten years she's been delivering therapeutic interventions (counselling, cbt, emdr, etc) to the terminally ill & their families. What a fucking slacker!
It seems to be a very English thing; when something is going well the intrinsic goodness & value & goodwill is milked dry within hours.
There's been interminable footage of the Nightingale Hospital today. Yes, its bloody impressive, but why spend hours & days patting yourself on the back? All you do is mangle the message, distort the reality. Its there - now let it do its thing.
If you want to be celebrated, though, why not stop lying, misdirecting & blagging people & get the fucking PPE supplies & antibody tests sorted???
Could they have called it the Mary Seacole Hospital?
"...[there's an] argument that Seacole doesn’t deserve to be called a nurse or a British icon at all... there’s the argument that Seacole is a symbol of political correctness gone mad because the great black British icon isn’t, er, black. In a Spectator piece Rob Liddle took the baffling stance that Seacole was “three-quarters white”.... However, Sir William Howard Russell, the war correspondent for The Times wrote “I trust that England will not forget one who nursed her sick, who sought out her wounded to aid and succour them, and who performed the last offices for some of her illustrious dead,” in 1857. These words are now etched on to Seacole’s [recently erected] statue."
Hopefully the Excel Centre is better located than Nightingale's military hospital in Turkey: "If we were going to pick holes, we could point out that even Nightingale couldn't compete with the fact that her military hospital at Scutari was placed over a sewer, meaning many patients died."
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/florence-vs-mary-the-big-nurse-off-a7100676.html
Don't Let The Bullies, Liars & Cheats Win.
Stay Home. Work from Home. Wash Your Hands.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.standard.co.uk/business/hard-brexit-strategies-are-redeployed-to-cope-with-virus-a4402596.html%3famp
ReplyDeleteI thought today’s covid19 email was an April fool. “Mindfulness pictures“ to colour in, on an uneditable pdf, I don’t have a printer, I can’t access the office. Not that I’d be doing that anyway.
ReplyDeleteSurely with the salary that regional managers are on they could at least screen what they are sending out and send something productive or practical.
Next we’ll be getting advised to create Easter bonnets to boost morale with a potential of a picture in the staff bulletin.
For what it’s worth I would mind some crepe paper craft but I’ve got too many oasys to review.
We need to see this email - just the text will suffice. If things get serious, presumably management will resort to kitten images?
DeleteThis job feels like constant emails, form filling, screening emails that don't relate, providing info and getting limited or confusing info back and recording recording recording and they really think we have that much time for face to face work that they refuse to allow honeworking
ReplyDeletehttp://camdennewjournal.com/article/camden-law-firms-revolt-against-business-as-usual-approach
ReplyDeleteCamdenN law firms are leading a revolt against what they have called a “mindless business as usual approach” to the Covid-19 pandemic.
DeleteA letter from the London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association and Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association to both its members last week said the Met Police’s reluctance to make any changes in such unprecedented times is “not safe or sustainable”.
A total of 70 firms from across London have now signed in agreement, including seven based in Camden. These include Powell Spencer, Goldman Bailey, Birnberg Peirce, BSB Solicitors, Hodge Jones and Allen, Lewis Nedas and Bindmans
As part of a new protocol they have established, the firms have agreed to no longer conduct “face to face” meetings or attend police stations and magistrates’ courts in person where some lawyers have say the conditions are “unsafe”.
The letter said: “This is not a decision taken lightly. All of us understand that in ordinary circumstances face to face contact when communicating with and representing our clients is crucial. However, as we face a unique and unprecedented public health risk, inevitably to protect all involved in the Criminal Justice System as well as the wider general public, face to face contact must regrettably be suspended. We ask our members who have yet to take a decision to urgently review your policies. Solicitors will not be permitted to use video-link or telephone facilities if the police believe they can go back to the DSCC panel and find another solicitor who will attend in person.”
Greg Powell, whose firm Powell Spencer & Partners is on the Kilburn High Road, said: “The police are applying a mindless business as usual approach to work in the very confined spaces of police stations which are incompatible with social isolation. Defence solicitors will not risk the lives of the community and those involved by following unsafe practices, the police have to wake up and change the way they work”.
Rhean Bailey, of Goldman Bailey Solicitors, who spoke to the New Journal last week about the difficulty solicitors are facing in Magistrates’ Courts, said: “I withdrew my firm from any ‘face to face’ a week ago as none of our usual environments are safe. Police stations offer no protective measures – no social distancing, no PPE, even for their own officers it seems, no hand sanitiser or immediate access to hand-washing facilities. Every attempt to engage and represent remotely has been a battle. It is rarely the individual officers who are obstructive, but more those in decision-making roles.
Ms Bailey said she is aware of other police forces, including Kent, which had taken steps to minimise the risk to advocates. “It is impossible to understand how the Met wish to continue as if nothing has changed in these wholly unprecedented times,” Ms Bailey said.
“They are not even protecting their own officers, who are already starting to fall ill. And trying to force solicitors to attend in person just adds to the risk of more people in and out of police stations, spreading this deadly virus wherever they go.
Police commander Chief Superintendent Raj Kohli told the New Journal he disagreed with the assessment on the hygiene conditions within police stations and said they have no plans to introduce more PPE gear for officers of people visiting custody suites.
DeleteHe said:
“It’s not business as usual, it’s business as unusual. We’re trying to deliver a service where people who ask for it don’t see a difference but internally we are doing things differently while maintaining the same quality. At the end of the day if you’ve been arrested then you’re entitled to legal advice. I’d never stop someone receiving advocacy and neither would I want a solicitor to feel uncomfortable. If I could trust detainees with mobile phones then they could video conference but unfortunately, I don’t trust them. The difficulty comes when they are being interviewed because the solicitor does need to be in the room, I guess you could have a mobile phone on speakerphone in the room but often the rooms are in the depths of the custody suite or basement so you are unlikely to get signal. They can absolutely ask for hand sanitiser and they can use the facilities to wash their hands. Solicitors have never been denied the use of toilet facilities ever. We can’t compare like for like with other police forces. The Met Police is the biggest police force in the UK by a long shot. We serve around 8-10 million people and there are 31,000 police officers and more staff. Central North which is just under my charge is around the size of Kent. London is the epicentre of the UK coronavirus pandemic and it also generates the most crimes and calls to the police.”
Chief Supt Kohli revealed that in the event of a detainee displaying coronavirus symptoms the force would not shut a cell block down but give it a deep clean one the person has left.
That’s tomorrow’s blog title - Business as Unusual. Applies to probation too.
DeleteNapo takes members' concerns directly to Minister and senior Probation leaders
ReplyDeleteNapo and our sister unions have been engaged for the best part of the day in a series of high level discussions involving Justice Minister Lucy Frazer, NPS Chief Executive Sonia Flynn and the Director General for Probation Amy Rees. Whilst much of the meeting with the Minister focussed on the C19 crisis, we took the opportunity to register Napo members' anger at the delay in paying out the expected pay progression arrangements for NPS staff. In response, the Minister said that this matter would be considered at the earliest opportunity notwithstanding the current operational pressures.
In these meetings we made it very clear that we expect the employer to ensure that every possible step is being taken to reduce face to face contact between staff and service users within the Exceptional Delivery Model (EDM) that has been issued across all HMPPS/NPS business streams and adopted by CRC owners. Subsequent to this (and as we have consistently reported to members in previous bulletins) all employers have now sought authority from the HMPPS Gold Command structure as to how they intend to maintain Probation as an essential service. Our National Officials are also in regular contact with CRC Reps and senior managers to press these points and the advice below should apply equally to staff employed in a CRC within the EDM measures drawn up by employers.
Further advice following these exchanges
Obviously, all of this presents a huge challenge for the Unions as we seek to escalate the information that is reaching us from hard pressed members, and the understandable concerns that exist around the protections that should be afforded to staff who are (exceptionally) required to conduct face to face interviews where there is no alternative. Typically, these include contact with individual service users released from prison, or those referred from court on first appointment, as well as homeless people and of course residents in Approved Premises.
In the workplace
Of equal importance is the need to ensure that where a workplace remains open it is fully compliant with the Government’s Social Distancing policy of 2 meter zones between those staff working in the office and between staff and service users (all non-negotiable) and that a joint risk assessment has been carried out in terms of this requirement. There must also be basic hygiene standards within the workplace such as the provision of soap, paper towels and hand sanitiser.
Napo has provided a list of workplaces that we believe are non-compliant with these basic necessities, and HMPPS are in the process of conducting an emergency estates audit as a result of this. In yesterday’s bulletin we advised members to press for the closure of offices where these standards cannot be delivered. We also hope that managers at all levels will recognise these requirements and support this campaign.
We have also asked for gloves for ALL staff working in buildings that have client contact (field offices and prisons) where there are multiple locked doors/gates to gain access to the workspace to enable staff to navigate the building and lessen the transference risk (because staff are at risk from each other as well as from clients). We await further news of progress in this regard but also see the important commentary below.
Interviews with service users
DeleteAny appointments happening face to face must be undertaken in line with social distancing otherwise they should not take place, but we have today demanded that the additional equipment as above, be made available for these appointments in any case; so that where someone has to be seen, in an office that must have the above social distancing protocols in place, the worker still has gloves and a mask provided in case the client is not fully compliant and as an extra layer of protection. Bear in mind however that such equipment does not guarantee total protection from C19 or any other virus if the Social Distancing and personal hygiene protocols are not met. Please also see the advice from the TUC in this regard: ‘Gloves do not prevent infection as people will touch their skin with the gloves and then touch another surface or person’
Where such equipment is provided it must also be accompanied by clear instructions from the employer as to its proper use and limitations.
Outside of the workplace
We have also said that this equipment should be in place for those staff involved in the doorstep visit/visual identification process in case of client non-compliance with social distancing (eg: if a client comes closer than you’ve told them to. Finally, we have asked for more guidance on the use of cars (including use of private cars, pool cars and hire cars and all of the implications of each of these) by staff involved in this supervision process following a number of enquiries today, and more news on this and other issues will follow as soon as possible.
Katie Lomas Ian Lawrence
National Chair General Secretary
Why won't Napo take action and lobby is for action against non assessed risk . These arrangements agree members of staff have to face risk no PPE. Get a backbone get a grip Napo.
DeleteIf it isn't already "moderation time" I'm sure it soon will be, so this comment may not be seen until tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like we're well on the way to the 1m known cases & 50,000 known deaths.
918,000 & 46,000 at time of writing.
A medical person described the situation to me today as:
"What we're experiencing now is the result of what happened two to three weeks ago; the benefits of social distancing and all the isolation won't be felt for another week or two. So its likely there'll be another week of high or increasing death rates before it eases, assuming the transmission routes were successfully broken."
Interesting the UK Govt never seems to be that clear about anything. They only seem to be able to peddle Lies, Misdirection and False Hope.
That's all for today - comment moderation on until tomorrow morning. Take care.
ReplyDeleteA litany of lies, misdirections & false hope to greet you this morning, with global figures now at 935,000 known/reported cases & 47,000 known/reported deaths.
ReplyDeleteChris Whitty 11/12 Mar 2020: "On March 11, NHS England said it intended to greatly expand testing capacity for Covid-19 – up to 10,000 tests per day. Some healthcare experts take this to mean that the 10,000-tests-per-day target is now irrelevant and that only a subset of cases, the most severe, will be identified."
Matt Hancock 12 Mar 2020: "Contain has bought us time to ramp up our preparations and NHS nurses have been at forefront of this approach, testing over 25,000 members of the public, treating patients already, assisting those we’ve returned from affected areas in supported isolation."
Boris Johnson 12 Mar 2020: "Testing - There will now be a shift in testing. The contain phase was about isolating individual cases. Many people will no longer be tested if they are showing mild symptoms. Instead, those with the most serious symptoms will be given a blood test in a hospital"
Boris Johnson 19 Mar 2020: "And above all we are getting better at testing. And the answer is to remove the cloak of invisibility and to identify the virus, and to be able to know which of us, is carrying it or who has actually had it and now got over it... we are in negotiations today to buy a so called antibody test as simple as a pregnancy test. And of course by the same token we are massively increasing the testing to see whether you have it now and ramping up daily testing from 5000 a day to 10,000 to 25,000 and then up to 250,000."
Matt Hancock 24 Mar 2020: "The government has bought 3.5 million coronavirus antibody tests — with more widespread testing of NHS workers coming “online soon”, the health secretary has said. Matt Hancock also told a press conference this evening that a new testing facility had been opened in Milton Keynes as the government aims to “ramp up” the number of antibody tests — which will determine whether people have had the virus and can therefore return to work. Mr Hancock also said the government had shipped 7.5 million pieces of personal protective equipment over the last 24 hours, following major shortages & confirmed the conversion of east London’s Excel centre into a huge temporary hospital facility, with between 500 to 4,000 beds."
Boris Johnson 25 Mar 2020: "The prime minister has said the government is “massively ramping up” testing for coronavirus and hopes that “very soon” 250,000 tests will be carried out each day."
Helen Whately 30 Mar 2020: "As the government aims to test 25,000 a day, Germany is estimated to already be conducting as many as 500,000 tests per week. A government minister has defended the UK's coronavirus testing regime following growing calls for the country to hugely expand its programme."
Michael Gove 29 Mar+ 2020: "On Sunday Michael Gove said 10,000 tests for the virus were being administered, part of the government’s drive to deliver 25,000 tests by mid to late April; Boris Johnson has said the eventual daily target is 250,000. However, Public Health England said on Monday that 8,278 tests were carried out on 4,908 people as of 9am on Sunday. This was down from 9,114 tests at 9am on Saturday. More testing is seen as vital in checking whether health and social workers are free from the virus and can return to work."
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Michael Gove has said the difficulty in increasing the number of Covid-19 tests is due to a shortage of the relevant "chemical reagents".
Asked about testing for NHS staff at the Government’s daily coronavirus briefing at Downing Street, Mr Gove said: “We are increasing the number of tests. One of the constraints on our capacity to increase testing overall is supply of the specific reagents, the specific chemicals, that are needed in order to make sure that tests are reliable.”