Covid in Scotland: Teachers asked to work in Glasgow care homes as staff hit by Omicron

MissAdventure

It makes sense, in that there is a crossover in training areas, I would think.
Mainly, safeguarding and data protection.
My dbs and training mean I could work with children, theoretically (not that I ever would!!!)

Yeah, not sure anyone would want me looking after their elderly relatives. I could clean. But personal care? I'd be adding vomit to other effluent. And as for cooking...

Oh I'd rather have a bum to wash than someone else's child to try and teach.
I could be handy for manual handling if needed, food hygiene, first aid.
Just an extra body about the place for backup.

In my role as a teacher, I have been known to clean a few bums and clean vomit, when no-one else was available. I could never have left a child in that situation.

I read somewhere else, that staff would be used as back up, for example collecting medication and shopping for housebound, that would free up regular, trained staff for other duties.

That's strange, my dbs specifically covers working with children as well as adults.
Perhaps my company request that as part of it, because some staff do work with children in schools and colleges, as well as at home.
So, there is another crossover skill.
They would probably be the best ones to help in a school.

That makes sense, Marydoll. I could do those tasks.

I'm no good in a bloody situation at school either. Emotional meltdowns and I'm your woman. Just as well I work with teenagers. They're prone to the occasional freak-out.

What a bizarre system

Children already have a very short straw here, let’s burn out their teachers even more.

I have a lot of training in challenging behaviour.
I particularly like to work with those people.

I'm pretty good at defusing a situation and dodging chairs being thrown at a colleague!

MissAdventure

That's strange, my dbs specifically covers working with children as well as adults.
Perhaps my company request that as part of it, because some staff do work with children in schools and colleges, as well as at home.
So, there is another crossover skill.
They would probably be the best ones to help in a school.

I don't know whether the system for DBS is the same in Scotland as in England, but mine most certainly wouldn't cover working with adults in a care home. I've had a number over the years and they state quite clearly that they are for a specific role for a specified employer. These days, they're "portable", but an employer can still request a new one and they're still for a specific role.

Marydoll

In my role as a teacher, I have been known to clean a few bums and clean vomit, when no-one else was available. I could never have left a child in that situation.

I read somewhere else, that staff would be used as back up, for example collecting medication and shopping for housebound, that would free up regular, trained staff for other duties.

I have never cleaned bums or vomit as a teacher.

The equivalent in Scotland is a PVG, issued by Disclosure Scotland. There are three categories:
Working with children
Working with vulnerable adults
Working with both.

I am checked for both. However, the law is changing in January, but I am not quite up to speed yet about the changes.

Casdon

There’s more of a crossover than dragging Joe Bloggs in off the street growstuff, that’s the material point. People who are already Local Authority employees are part of the system, known and checked. The care home sector are obviously in extremis or they wouldn’t be suggesting this.

I'm really not sure there is more crossover. I would be absolutely useless in a care home. I'm secondary trained and have never in my life helped a pupil with personal care. The staff would need to spend time they could spend looking after people telling me what to do. I appreciate that teachers in Scotland are employed by LAs, but in England most aren't, so they haven't been checked and aren't "known".

Why can't they draft in the Forces?

That's what usually happens Iin a crisis; they're trained to respond to emergencies and are adaptable.

I think teachers need a couple of weeks' break and need time for planning for next term too.

Well you can see by the date that mine is very recent.

Marydoll

The equivalent in Scotland is a PVG, issued by Disclosure Scotland. There are three categories:
Working with children
Working with vulnerable adults
Working with both.

I am checked for both. However, the law is changing in January, but I am not quite up to speed yet about the changes.

Ah! Thanks for the explanation.

growstuff, sometimes, there is nothing else for it!
I worked in an area of extremely high deprivation, in an LA where inclusive education was the norm. On many occasions, we were stretched to the limit and no way, would I leave a child in their own mess.

MissAdventure

Well you can see by the date that mine is very recent.

Yes, and it states "carer". In England that would not cover you to work in a school and the equivalent to work in a school as a teacher wouldn't cover you as a carer.

Marydoll

*growstuff*, sometimes, there is nothing else for it!
I worked in an area of extremely high deprivation, in an LA where inclusive education was the norm. On many occasions, we were stretched to the limit and no way, would I leave a child in their own mess.

Were you a primary school teacher?

Calistemon

Why can't they draft in the Forces?

That's what usually happens Iin a crisis; they're trained to respond to emergencies and are adaptable.

I think teachers need a couple of weeks' break and need time for planning for next term too.

So do I. If I were still teaching, I wouldn't volunteer. I would need a break after a horrendous term before planning for next term, I wouldn't be able to guarantee that I would be Covid-free and I wouldn't have a clue what to do.

That's good enough for a career in care.

Summerlove's comment -Children already have a very short straw here, let’s burn out their teachers even more- hits a nail on the head. The young have been sacrificed to the old more than enough.

growstuff, I was a primary teacher, with many roles, occasionally helping out in our feeder high school.

The teachers' DBS in England does not cover teachers to work with vulnerable adults. There is an additional box on the application form that needs to be ticked and verified. You can obviously add it at a later date.

It doesn't in Scotland either. I had and still have an enhanced PVG for another role.

This is about Scotland growstuff, so the English system is not relevant. The Government website says that ‘DBS adult first is a service available to organisations who can request a check of the DBS adults' barred list. Depending on the result, a person can be permitted to start work, under supervision, with vulnerable adults before a DBS certificate has been obtained.’ So that wouldn’t be an issue.
Of course it’s far from ideal that the care system is so on its uppers that asking Local Authority staff to work in their holidays is necessary, but it’s optional, and I think the sympathies of all of us should lie with the staff who are in care services who must be working horrendously long hours with little support.