On the LupusUK forum it has been pointed out that while we may be a bit restricted about going out, the staff of the NHS have the same problems and are finding they can't get any shopping done:
Maybe you can help someone you know in that situation in any way: maybe you have a local shop you could point this out to or have a volunteer delivery service being set up that could help. The phone is safe, you could take a delivery and leave it on the doorstep for your friend to pick up.
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My cousin is the sole registered nurse on duty in a care home. She was on the phone to me in tears. She's working so hard to keep her residents safe and is working in excess of the 12 hour a day shifts. She hasn't had time to shop or to see the financial advise on the TV.
She was very upset as 1 of her grandchildren was sent home from school yesterday with a cough so now all three grandchildren and their mother are self isolating for 14 days. She was upset she wouldn't see her grandchildren as she would not risk carrying the virus into the care home.
She was beginning to panic as no one at work is being tested and they are barrier nursing a couple of the residents to minimise risk.
She is terrified of getting the virus and not being able to pay her mortgage. She lives paycheck to paycheck so has no savings. She says she couldn't afford a loan as she couldn't pay it back.
The one thing I could do for her is to explain the mortgage holiday to her and encouraged her to talk to her mortgage provider.
She seemed to calm down a bit by then.
She has 3 adult sons who live with her. Two work in zero hours McDonalds contracts and the third is mentally unstable and unable to work. I can completely understand her anxiety.
As a nurse she is contributing to our Society but our Society is doing nothing to help her. Like me, her pension age changed to 67 so she has 10 years nursing to do. I really think our government should be looking to help our nurses and healthcare workers to make them feel more secure. Rant over! Difficult times
Hear hear. We are relying so much on people like her and so many others in similar positions. It seems that some government backbenchers have just started to put some pressure on the government to do more for the lower paid so fingers crossed something happens soon. 🤞
Well done for mentioning the mortgage holiday. Get in early for that I think. I hope her gkids etc are ok. I hope the families of those under her care appreciate her caring approach.
She mentioned that the home had asked visitors not to call. Unfortunately, its not law so this cannot be enforced and people are still visiting but not as many She has the added responsibility of taking everyone's temperature before they are allowed in. This includes staff.
She said some people were stroppy and objected to this. Its so stressful for her.
She does understand that people want to see their older family members but there is so much risk. Also PPE is in short supply so full barrier nursing is only to people with a cough or high temperature. Difficult times.
Omg. So they didn't say...thank you so much please tell X we have been ...or just thanks, we won't bother you more then....depending on the type of care home.
Its a nursing home. One nurse on each shift, two if they can manage it, plus carers. Usual set up for a small home.
She finds, as did I, that no matter how much she and her carers do, its not enough for some families. People have a general distrust of care homes and this is now being amplified by the current pandemic. Staff have a rough time with residents visitors at these sort of times. I too worked in care and had the same experience of stroppy visitors when we had to close for the Norovirus.
My own view is that each resident could have one named visitor who would agree to have their temp tested and supplied with ppe to make short visits. This would mean extra ppe but would limit visitors and risk. My cousin thought that was a good idea and was going to mention it to the owner/manager (who happens to be Chinese). I have told her I am on the end of the phone if she wants to decompress after work. We live to far away to visit even if we could
At least here it was mentioned with the changes in the law they introduced the weekend before last. Not allowed. But still fools going out together ...
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