Yahoo News Government faces backlash for carers' 'badge of honour' scheme
The government has been criticised for offering social care workers a “badge of honour” so they can get the same recognition as NHS staff amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday that the badge would allow frontline workers to “proudly and publicly identify themselves” during the outbreak.
But the move sparked a backlash, with critics calling for the focus to be on more personal protective equipment (PPE) and increased testing.
Some have also pointed out that the badge already existed after being launched in March 2019 by Care England rather than a new initiative.
Rehana Azam, national officer of the GMB union, said care workers “need more than a badge and a pat on their head to define their precious role in society”.
She said: “They need the protective equipment and testing on the front line now to protect their lives.
“Ministers should be moving mountains to support our care sector to get the kit workers need available where and when they need it.
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“Care workers are serially undervalued, highly skilled and massively underpaid.
“It will take far more than branding to get them the recognition and support they deserve and that battle will continue until care workers are treated the same as NHS workers.”
Of all the things that long-suffering social care staff in England most need, I would put a badge close to the bottom of the list.
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) April 15, 2020
Former shadow health secretary Andy Burnham, who is mayor of Greater Manchester, tweeted in response: “Of all the things that long-suffering social care staff in England most need, I would put a badge close to the bottom of the list.”
Barbara Keeley, Labour MP for Worsley & Eccles South, wrote: “A badge for social care staff? They need PPE, testing, decent pay and conditions and proper recognition of the vital role they do. But a badge?”
Edel Harris, CEO of learning disability charity Mencap, said that “beyond well-meaning gestures, such as a badge and new branding, we would much prefer to see funds available so that the hard working frontline social care workforce can be given a pay rise on a par with the NHS to really value the incredible work they do”.
Hmmm Matt Hancock's new care badge was actually launched on 19th March 2019 by Care England, who at the time criticised "the lopsided message that the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care sends by only wearing an NHS lapel badge".....https://t.co/Wt173TTQeW pic.twitter.com/aP7ecW7a4N
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) April 15, 2020
Speaking during Wednesday’s daily Downing Street press conference, Hancock pointed to a green and white badge bearing the word ‘care’, and said: “This badge will be a badge of honour in a very real sense, allowing social care staff proudly and publicly to identify themselves, just like NHS staff do with that famous blue and white logo.
“I know that many businesses will want to offer the same recognition and benefits as they do wonderfully to the NHS.”
But some pointed out that a green badge with the word ‘Care’ was launched by Care England last year as a “unifying symbol of pride and quality in social care”.
Announcing the badge as part of a wider national plan to support the UK’s adult social care sector, the Department for Health & Social Care said the badge would be “based on the existing CARE badge, which was launched as a unifying symbol of pride for the social care sector by Care England and the National Care Forum”.
During the briefing, Hancock set out plans for the care sector including increased testing and improved access to PPE as well as saying the government would strengthen recruitment efforts to get tens of thousands of more staff into the profession.
The Independent Care Group said the measures were long-overdue recognition of the vital role social care is playing.
“It feels like it has been a long time coming but at last social care is getting the recognition it deserves right down to the secretary of state wearing his Care badge with pride and describing it as a badge of honour,” said chairman Mike Padgham.
“Now it is up to the secretary of state to live up to his fine words and deliver on all fronts.”
