Unite the Union blasts health chiefs 'forcing staff to come into work' during Storm Eowyn

A union has blasted health chiefs after staff members were allegedly forced to go to work despite a red weather alert warning people not to travel.

Unite the Union said NHS Ayrshire and Arran and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde told staff they would either lose a day’s pay or have to use annual leave if they decided not to journey to work.

A red weather warning for wind came into force at 10am on Friday as Storm Eowyn swept across the country.

In Scotland, the red alert is concentrated over much of the central belt, the Scottish Borders, Strathclyde, Tayside, Fife, and the Lothians.

Many public transport providers, including ScotRail, McGills, First Bus and CalMac, said services would be cancelled on Friday due to the dangers posed by winds of up to 100mph.

Ewing Hope, NHS Ayrshire and Arran’s Unite the Union representative, said admin and clerical staff, who have the ability to work from home, were not given the option to do so.

He told STV News: “We’ve had some groups of staff in Glasgow who have been informed that you have to come to work, if you can’t come to work you lose a day’s pay or you have to take annual leave although the policies that we’re very clear about is that that would revert to special leave because of the extreme weather conditions.

“The manager who was telling that particular group of staff then didn’t come into work because it wasn’t safe.

“I’ve had other groups of staff from Golden Jubilee getting very similar information and lots of internal discussion and debates about staff safety.”

Mr Hope added that during the Covid pandemic, staff were ranked from A to D, relating to how critical their presence was in the workplace.

He explained: “When we went through Covid, we categorised our staff from A, B, C, D – A and B being your critical staff who are providing patient care, and it’s essential that they’re in the workplace. Your C and D staff are less critical, and where they can work from home, then the agreement was that’s where they should be working, but just to completely disregard staff safety, I think, is really poor.”

“For me, particularly from a Unite perspective, our number one priority will always be staff safety and our member’s safety.

“I know that we provide critical services to the public, but I know that our clinicians and our medics will always make every effort they can to ensure patient safety at all times, and I respect that, and I support that.

“But we’re very clear that people who should or can work from home should be allowed to work from home in these extreme circumstances and if boards are going to put that particular group of staff in harm’s way, I have got real concerns about how we’re treating staff and particularly around staff safety.

“That’s why I raised the issue at a national level with Government officials, and we’ve raised it internally.

“I would hope at the end of this that there’s a catch-up and a learning opportunity because the reality is that we’ve known since Monday last week that this storm was on its way, and I appreciate that at 10am that we moved into the red area, but we still had plenty of time to have that conversation and get advice to staff. I think that we were very slow off the mark and endangered staff’s lives.”

A spokesperson for NHS Ayrshire and Arran said: “The health and safety of our staff is of paramount importance.

“Our advice to staff during this period of severe weather has aligned with the advice from Police Scotland that road users travel only if it is absolutely essential.

“Whilst NHS Ayrshire & Arran and our health and social care partnerships provide essential and emergency services, we urge caution and planning to our staff to ensure all travel is as safe as possible.

“We have encouraged members of staff to speak to their line manager as soon as possible if they had any concerns about travel during this period of severe weather.

“We have also supported staff who were already in work to remain in the safety of our premises until such time as they are able to travel safely. Arrangements have been in place to provide appropriate accommodation and support to those who were unable to travel.

“Where appropriate, we encouraged non-frontline staff to work from home, and have the support in place to allow them to do so. Decisions about whether home working is appropriate depends on the staff member’s role.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde added: “Following the red weather warning covering the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, staff members who are able to work from home were encouraged to do so.

“This message was included in an email that went out to all staff yesterday (Thurs) afternoon.

“Our adverse weather policy, which is the national policy, was enacted, and additional guidance was shared with all NHSGGC staff members.

“We also took the decision to cancel non-urgent outpatient appointments and routine hospital admissions, further reducing the need for patients and staff to travel. Some staff were supporting patient clinics and our wards, and we supported any staff members who required transport at the end of their shifts.”