Care fit for carers: Ensuring the safety and welfare of NHS and care workers during and after Covid-19

Article

Covid-19 is one of the most significant threats our country has faced in modern times. The prime minister has gone as far as to compare it to a wartime event. But war, and events like it, always requires a change in the social contract. The first world war had ‘homes fit for heroes’; the second world war ‘from cradle to grave’. Covid-19 must see similar intervention: ‘care fit for carers’.

This report provides new evidence on the experience of the healthcare workforce during Covid-19 to date – from IPPR/YouGov polling of healthcare workers and the general public; an IPPR consultation; and from literature review. It shows that without further bold action in the days, weeks and months to come by the UK government and NHS England (and the NHS in the rest of the UK) the country’s healthcare workforce will face significant health, mental health and welfare challenges.

The UK government must not be sparing in providing the health and care workforce what they need. After all, they can only do right by us, if we do right by them. 'Care fit for carers' means making five core guarantees.

  • A safety guarantee.
  • An accommodation guarantee.
  • A mental health guarantee.
  • A pay guarantee.
  • A care guarantee.

To better understand what social care workers need during this crisis, IPPR ran a consultation through the sector. Read the responses to this consultation here.

Related items

  1. A mother and child from behind looking out of a window

    Hidden hardships: The immigration system and child poverty

    Child poverty remains a persistent and deeply rooted issue in the UK. 
  2. A diverse group of children sit in a colourful nursery setting, clapping along with the childminder

    Every child is equal: Bridging the childcare gap for families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

    Migrant families subject to the no recourse to public funds (NRPF) condition are prevented from accessing most forms of support with childcare costs, including the expanded entitlement for working parents.

  3. Grangemouth after the refinery: lessons from history in how we make a just transition real

    Making sure support mechanisms are in place for workers at the Grangemouth refinery, and for anyone else in employment across Scotland, is crucial.