Work

[Meerkatf]

Hi all, I am new to the group so, hello! I was wondering if, like me, any of you work in health care and when how you think you will be able to return to work?

[Summerrain14]

Hi and welcome to this great supportive group. Such a hard question to answer isn’t it about when we can return to work? I do work in a hospital but have been able to work from home for the last ten weeks. Had a risk assessment completed over the phone with my manager yesterday for HR. No return date for me any time soon as currently on a short course of steroids. I think my review date is around the 16th July with my manager. It is all very dependent on our job roles isn’t it and medications. x

[KittyJ]

I agree with Summerrain, it will be different for everyone depending on their meds, their health and job. No easy answer 😔

[AgedCrone in reply to KittyJ]

I do think we might all spare a thought for the people who have continued working......delivering our letters, serving in supermarkets, driving buses & trains, & of course the NHS workers/carers, & particularly the school teachers who have willingly worked teaching those worker’s children ....since most schools were first closed,....without a thought of their own health.

I do wonder why their union let them work...but now don’t want schools to open?

You don’t have to have a health problem to be vulnerable....I know from my own family the stress those teachers have been under.....with no extra arrangements made for who looks after their children .....lots of people are having a very hard time right now....so let’s not feel too sorry for ourselves, just because we have had to stay home. ....lots of people are having a very bleak time right now.

[KittyJ in reply to AgedCrone]

I’m not feeling sorry for myself, I know I’m very lucky.

[Meerkatf]

Thank you all. Yes, I agree that I am lucky and that many people are having a much harder time than me right now. I'm a nurse in a community hospital. My ward is currently the covid ward (it's more than likely I will be returning to a different ward). I'm very aware of the pressure my colleagues are under and feel guilty every day about not being there to help out. I've been taking methotrexate for 6months now and have been slightly neutropenic on several occasions. I just feel that nothing has changed that would suggest I'm any less vunerable now than I was 10weeks ago. I was just curious as to how and other people were planning to return to work

[JulesCurrie in reply to Meerkatf]

What dose of MTX and what other drugs are you on? I

[Meerkatf in reply to JulesCurrie]

I'm on 15mg of mtx at the moment (have a review next month), and folic acid. nothing else.

[JulesCurrie in reply to Meerkatf]

So your not at work because on 15mg of NTX ? Im on 20mg MTX daily , folic acids 2 once a week and 400mg hydroxy for 5 days . Have luckily been able to work from home but finding increasing pressure and questions about returning to work . I also taken naproxen up to 1000mg daily taken it for years but have recently cut back and use only when needed oh and omeprazole.

[Meerkatf in reply to JulesCurrie]

Yeap, GP has told me I can't work mostly, I guess, because social distancing would be impossible.

I've been very lucky so far with my RA. I have had symptoms for about 10years now. My flare ups can be very painful and debilitating, but have never been frequently, and therefore mostly manageable. I only succumbed to treatment last year when I was becoming so stiff in the evenings I could barely get up.

I think til now I have only had 2days off work because of my RA, (quite a few occasions I probably shouldn't have been there, but we just get on with it don't we?) Makes it all the harder being home and well now.

Still, I know that I am lucky. I hope your pain is under control.

[JulesCurrie in reply to Meerkatf]

Yes had it 20 years now . Has been unbearable at times . Bad year last year but so far better so far this year... Find it best to keep moving if you can don’t let it get the better of me

[Sheila_G]

Hi. Welcome to the site. I don't work at all so I can't really help you. I would say that we all have concerns, no matter who we are or why we have them. Your concerns are very understandable. You have a right to be worried. It doesn't mean you are weak or feeling sorry for yourself or any other negative feeling you may have and you shouldn't feel guilty for being anxious. You are human like the rest of us. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you weren't feeling these concerns you wouldn't be human. Sadly, only you can make the decision about when to return to work. I don''t envy you but wish you all the luck in the world. God bless. Stay safe. x

[Meerkatf in reply to Sheila_G]

Thank you! And I'd just like to say what a supportive lot you all are. So pleased to have found this group x

[Sheila_G in reply to Meerkatf]

I am sure I can speak for everyone when I say we are glad you found us too. xx

[Shelby37]

Hi, welcome to the group. I work in a London Camhs. I have been working from home since the lockdown, but certainly as schools go back, particularly secondary I will be under increasing pressure to return. I worry that September will be more of a risk to now as there will be other seasonal illnesses about. The uncertainty is difficult to sit with at times. Good luck

[Meerkatf]

Thank you all ! I personally think that the only reasonable answer is vaccination but, as that is a long way off, I guess many of us will have some tough discussions to make!

[Divs]

I have continued to work - my choice even though being asked to shield. Now some people may be horrified at this but I work in social care (not direct care) for a charity which supports vulnerable people. It is my choice, we are all at risk, and risk is something we havea choice in. I am currently healthy as can be for my condition. Now shoot me down if you want but I have known people healthier than me that have experienced the virus first hand. They too have followed all the guidelines like me but yet have still got it.

In saying that I have been risk assessed at work, temp taken every day, follow all guidelines re social distancing etc, I don’t do shopping as I have my family at home to do this. They continue to work - one in retail in a large hardware store that is classed ‘essential’ due to people’s demand to home decorate and maintain gardens etc! But we all take care, we all wash hands use separate towels etc. Clean bathroom after each use, sanitise everything to the point that is possibly excessive lol,

We cannot hide from this virus - until we find a vaccine we are all unsafe, but we must accept risk. We choose to risk our lives in lots of everyday tasks etc, , even travelling in a car there is always the risk of some other idiot causing an accident which involves us.

Sorry if this sounds like a rant. It’s not meant to be. I know there are vulnerable people who are more at risk than me even though I have been classed as high risk. I have an 83 year old father who I haven’t seen in person since lockdown. But I am not scared.

I still chose to work because I accept risk. I may regret it one day but life is still going on around me with factors that I cannot control. So I have to accept risk but be as careful as I can be,

[Spaniellady in reply to Divs]

I agree. Risk is part of life, and we cannot eliminate it. The government is unable to keep us safe, and much of the rhetoric is creating a climate of fear which in itself is damaging. We need to take a sensible view of the risk based on our own circumstances and the evidence presented, and then take appropriate actions to mitigate it as best we can.

When you consider the overall statistics, 33000 deaths in a population of 65million, and the majority who have died have some other underlying factor, the risk of dying from COVID is very small. Obviously, every life lost is a personal tradegy, but we can't lose sight that death is always part of life. There is no doctor that can prevent any of us dying when our time is up.

Having said that I am not in any way disregarding the risk, or the implications of a resurgence if we alter our behaviour, but I do think we need to take a balanced reasoned and rational approach to the situation.

[Meerkatf in reply to Divs]

I admire your approach and agree that risk is inevitable. I wasn't given the option to work, but this thing isn't going away and I don't know what will have to change for it to be deemed 'safe' for me to return (which I would love to do). I does worry me though, that some of you have talked about feeling pressured into returning to work. People have genuine and reasonable anxiety about this and should not be made to do anything they are uncomfortable about

[Colouringqueen58]

Hi , I work in the social care sector , at a care home as an activity co Ordinator. I am on methotrexate , sulphasalazine , hydroxychloroquine , and biological injections.

When lockdown started I told my manager I was immune suppressed and didn’t feel comfortable working as 3 residents had been diagnosed with COVID 19(and subsequently passed away) . She said she was also immunosuppressed but was continuing to work!! She was in an office most of the day ,whereas I was in direct contact with the residents .

She said I was safer in the care home than going out to Tesco, as we had infection control procedures in place , so recommended I speak to my GP, and it was my decision.

Spoke to GP ,who told me I was high risk and should be self isolating for 12 weeks. So haven’t been back to work since . A total of 10 residents have died since then with suspected or confirmed COVID 19, so I was right to stay away.

I wasn’t able to be furloughed so have only been getting SSP and that is about a third of my salary, and it quite tough financially. I speak to a colleague weekly who will tell me the truth about what the situation is ,and she tells me they have been 45 days clear of the virus and are now being tested twice a week, and I’m feeling torn between going back to a safer environment or staying off just in case another person is carrying it and can pass it on.

So it’s a difficult decision!

[Meerkatf in reply to Colouringqueen58]

I really feel for you, care homes have been hit really badly. I don't envy your disscion at all! I'll have a similar choice to make at the end of June and really don't know what to do at the moment.