We highlighted to MSPs that nursing staff who developed long COVID after contracting the virus at work are not being compensated. They are now left with the prospect of having to go through expensive legal processes, such as personal injury cases, to be compensated for the harm that they have suffered. We are calling for MSPs to support our ask for nursing staff with long COVID to be compensated without going through a personal injuries claim.
As well as a compensation scheme, we are calling for long COVID to be recognised as a disability in law and for the UK government to implement the recommendation from the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council that certain long-term complications following COVID infection be prescribed as an occupational disease for health and social care workers.
Commenting after the debate, Colin Poolman, RCN Director, said:
“Many nursing staff are living with the effects of long COVID and continue to suffer physical and emotional pain and distress. Some face financial detriment and some are now unable to work. For some their lives have been forever changed by long COVID. Its physical impact coupled with long-term financial insecurity is causing them continued worry. Many are desperate to get back to work but find workplace adjustments and support lacking.
“It is highly likely that many of these staff will have become infected while working. They have been doubly let down – first through a lack of adequate protection against the virus and subsequently by being left unsupported whilst facing the often-debilitating consequences of long COVID.
“Rather than engaging in the costly and lengthy legal process defending personal injuries claims, the RCN would like to see the Scottish government establish a different approach to compensating nursing staff who have been harmed at work because of working in the pandemic response. Affected nursing staff need this, and they need it now.”
