The Minister of State for Social Care, Helen Whately, has written to the chief executives of major supermarkets asking them to give social care workers the same access to stores as NHS staff.
Up and down the country, including here on the Isle of Wight, those who work in the private sector have been questioning why they are not being treated the same as NHS workers when it comes to special shopping arrangements.
Addressing this issue, Ms Whately has confirmed that she has written to CEOs as, she says, both social care and NHS workers are at the frontline of the coronavirus battle.
Currently, NHS staff can get access to the UK’s major supermarkets up to an hour before other members of the public. Tesco are offering this 1 hour before opening on a Sunday morning, whilst Asda have allocated between 08:00-09:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
At Morrisons, NHS staff can enjoy early access every day between 07:00-08:00, except on Sundays. Marks and Spencer also allow an extra hour before store opening on Tuesdays and Fridays. Aldi have dedicated 30 minutes from 09:30-10:00 on Sundays, but Lidl have not yet announced any special hours.
Sainsbury’s are already offering NHS and social care staff a 30-minute head start between 07:30 and 08:00, Monday to Saturday.
The Minister has said:
“As well as our weekly #ClapForCarers let’s help our carers however we can”.
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I am a carer- at Morrisons in Lake i was told you are not NHS so yo have to queue like everyone else. I was working at the time . I do not abuse this privilege.
It’ll be lovey to have a dedicated time to shop but most carers are busy caring for clients between 7-9 am , later in the day when we are free to shop we have to cue with everyone else . I went to Sainsbury’s yesterday for a client and asked if I could go straight in as only had a short limited time for the persons shopping call and was told no sorry cue with everyone else so I cued for 20 minutes I was then running late for all my calls . I asked in store if any exceptions could be made and was told they are reviewing the situation.
I think it’s good that carers should be seen as equal to the NHS. I respect and admire the hard work they do, I just feel that people forget that there are other people in our position. I would love to thank all those who are frontline workers as I feel even with out this pandemic it goes unrecognised with the hard work we all out in to care for those who need it the most.
I would also like to say please keep safe and continue all the hard work you are doing it will not go unnoticed especially by those who we care for and their families. Stay strong and and share all the love we can.
Yes, carers should be allocated ‘special’ shopping time. Well done for the work you do. Stay indoors everyone, it’s the only way to stop the spread of this terrible virus. We can beat it.