An MP has criticized the “harsh” punishment of hospice workers who violated lockdown limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After visiting a beer garden last year, three St Leonard’s Hospice employees were fired and numerous others were demoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
York MP Rachael Maskell said people had told her about their concerns about the hospice since, and that management should have examined other options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a hospice representative, “proper” action was taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May of last year, about 20 hospice employees met in a York pub garden, just hours before restrictions were to be relaxed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angie Pollard, a care assistant at the hospice for nearly two decades, was among those fired for breaking the regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We were on six tables and socially separated,” she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Ms Pollard and two other employees were fired after an investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Employees told that the loss of experienced workers had exacerbated ongoing staff shortages, with the hospice currently operating at around half the pre-pandemic level for in-patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We know there are recruitment and retention issues,” Ms Maskell said, adding that she believes management has adopted a “very punitive approach” to dealing with the violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve asked the hospice to reconsider how it works with workers to guarantee early intervention and assistance,” she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An MP has criticized the “harsh” punishment of hospice workers who violated lockdown limits. After<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[1118],"class_list":["post-17251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","tag-york"],"yoast_head":"\n