NHS staff with long COVID at risk of losing pay

As reported by the BBC, thousands of NHS staff across the UK are facing pay cuts because of a change in COVID sickness policy

Unions are accusing the government of failing to support health staff who worked during the coronavirus pandemic. The government says the COVID-19 public inquiry will examine these issues when it begins taking evidence in May.

Changes to special sick pay rules introduced during the pandemic mean that some NHS staff unable to work due to long COVID may soon no longer receive full pay. Enhanced provision ended last year. Many had a six-month transition, so expect their wages to go down soon.

As standard sick pay rules have come back for NHS staff, some people have already seen their pay go down, with more to follow soon.

The NHS in England and Wales do not publish overall numbers for showing how many staff are off sick with long COVID. Northern Ireland’s Department of Health told us its most recent figures show 0.6% of its health and care staff are off because of long COVID and in Scotland it’s 0.3%.

If these rates are reflected across the UK, it could mean that between 5,000 and 10,000 staff absent because of long COVID.

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