The increased sick pay given to NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic will be reduced next month.
The special pay plans were offered to staff who were ill with Covid or long-term Covid during the pandemic. Staff received wages if they isolated themselves from the virus and a full 12 months compensation if they had Covid for a long time.
Thousands of hospital workers were out of work during the Christmas peak in Omicron of the outbreak. At one point during the winter, 10,000 hospital workers were absent per day.
But the Ministry of Health and Social Care will scrap the special payments with arrangements to return to normal on July 7 for new episodes of Covid-19 illness.
By September 1, all staff receiving Covid sick pay will return to their contractual terms.
Normal NHS sickness rules allow staff six months full pay and six months half pay.
Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), England, said the decision is “hugely disappointing”.
“Covid-19 has clearly not gone away and nurses continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus as they are at greater risk of exposure.
“We know that many of our members are suffering from prolonged Covid, adversely affecting their lives, rendering them unable to work.
“Facing the threat of losing full sick pay if they remain ill from a condition that some might argue is an occupational hazard is negligent and unfair. It’s another indication of how little the UK government values its nurses.
“The NHS payment is barely enough to make ends meet at the best of times, and this will be another blow to some struggling with Covid-19-related health problems.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “As we learn to live with Covid, we are withdrawing the temporary illness guidance from NHS staff introduced at the height of the pandemic, as part of plans to return to the normal course of business. agreements laid down in the NHS conditions.
“This provides generous support for NHS staff with up to six months full pay and six months half pay, depending on length of service.”
Covid infections have risen by more than 30 percent in the past week, with around 2.3 million people in private households estimated to have had the virus.
It is the highest number of infections since April, but still below the record high of 4.9 million reached at the end of March.
The current peak is fed by the ommicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, the Office for National Statistics has warned.
UK hospitals have recorded a threefold increase in the number of coronavirus admissions in the past month from 460 a day on May 28 to 1,400 now.