So many nurses and other healthcare staff in the UK may well have been infected with Covid-19 but they have not yet been diagnosed. This is according to a new study which has been done. The University of East Anglia has done the study and they have also worked with the University of London. They have found that a huge portion of the staff had in fact experienced a loss of taste or smell when the pandemic took off. A lot of the cases went undiagnosed at the time purely because there was not a lot of awareness regarding the smell or taste loss as a major symptom. If you work in hospital jobs or if you are part of an hospital staff recruitment agency then you will understand what a debilitating statistic this is, as it means that NHS workers most likely transmitted the disease to one another when they were needed the most on the front line.

Questionnaires were completed by over 260 staff at the Barts Health NHS Trust and they have found that two out of three staff suffered with the symptoms at some point between February and April. Less than a third of them were tested and the tests were in fact limited to those who had a high temperature or even a cough. 56 came back with a positive result. Evidence has shown that loss of smell may be the only symptom of Covid-19 and sometimes it may not even show any other symptoms at all. The findings may have shown that the coronavirus was circulating hospitals, but nothing was done as at the time, we did not know how the virus presented itself. Now we have access to way more data, it just goes to show that the virus can be much more controlled.

The government have to make sure that they are providing very clear instructions to the public and they also need to make sure that they are providing a much more personal approach. This is the only way that they are going to be able to stop hospitals from becoming overwhelmed by a potential second wave of the virus. Cindy Marudamuthu was the matron for various infectious diseases at the London University NHS Trust when the first wave of the virus was sweeping the nation and she has stated that she became very frustrated that not everyone was following the guidelines regarding social distancing. She has stated that their main concern is that hospitals are going to struggle to cope amid the storm that is happening with the seasonal flu and they are also concerned about the fact that there is only so much that hospitals can even do to try and protect those who need it the most.

At the end of the day, it is Summer now so everyone is a bit more relaxed but when you blink your eyes, it will be winter and for this very reason, people have to be protecting themselves as much as possible. She has stated that she is in fact ready for the next wave, but it is going to be overwhelming when there are flu and cold cases mixed in as well. The infectious disease team are doing everything they can to protect those who work in nursing jobs and even those who work in an nursing recruitment agency so that the spread can be slowed down as much as possible but the hopes are not high right now and this concerns so many people who work in the healthcare industry.

Thousands of nurses are now taking the streets to take part in a socially-distant demonstration regarding pay. More than 35 full demonstrations are scheduled to be taking place in numerous parts of the UK and there are a huge number of midwives expected to show up as well. This is sending a very clear message and they are confident that the events are going to have a huge impact on further protests that are going to be planned later in the month.

The motion now has over 76,500 followers and the group who are not affiliated with any kind of union have asked for a 15% increase in pay for NHS workers. They want this done by the end of the year. Members have stated that they are angry about the government’s decision to leave out their profession from the award. The next pay negotiations are going to happen in 2021 and this is when the three-year deal comes to an end. Campaigners have stated that pay rises and nurses should be brought forward especially given the case of the pandemic right now. The NHS workers have been working tirelessly and even those who have worked nursing jobs have committed so much over the last few months. This is even the case for those who work in an nursing recruitment agency too, so it’s vital that people like this are not forgotten during this uncertain time. Only time will tell if the government are going to change their stance on the issue, but right now it looks like more needs to be done in order to make sure that the people are given the support they need during this very delicate time and that they are given a good rate of pay for their hard work.

It’s said that up to 2,000 nursing apprentices are going to be trained in England, every year for the next four years. A lot of this comes down to a surge in government funding. There is going to be a funding package which is going to be worth up to £172m and it is going to give nurse apprentices the chance to contribute to the workforce much more. Under the new scheme, nurses are going to be encouraged to take on new training and employers are going to try and cover the wider costs involved as well. Backfill staff are required and of course, apprentices need an education. The lack of support with these costs has been cited as being a huge barrier and it is going to stop the widescale rollout in general.

If you work in nursing jobs or even in a nursing recruitment agency, then you will understand how important this is to the growth of the industry overall. Unions and various other health commentators have warned that the announcement does in fact fall short of the amount of work that is required to address the crisis that is happening right now. The cash is part of the funding that is being given out to apprentices for Jobs 2020. It’s aimed at trying to tackle the unemployment rate that is happening right now and it’s also going to stop the vicious cycle of unemployment in the future. Of course, more still needs to be done and this may well not be enough to even touch what is happening in the economy right now but it’s safe to say that it is a step in the right direction. Only time will tell what the future holds but right now it looks like more needs to be done.