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Indian-origin UK MP sacked as carer over lack of PPE
Whittome, MP from Nottingham East, asked care workers to contact her in confidence, adding that her office is collecting evidence of how they are underpaid, undervalued and fear speaking out due to uncertain employment status.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome, who was the youngest elected in the December 2019 election, has been dismissed as a carer for the elderly in a Nottingham residential care home after she raised concerns over lack of personal protection equipment (PPE).
Whittome, 24, was born in Nottingham to Indian-origin parents and worked as a carer before contesting the election. She was one of the first MPs to return to their previous professions in the healthcare sector when the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the UK.
She said: “Just over a month ago, when the coronavirus pandemic took hold, I returned part-time to my previous job as a care worker because I knew that this crisis would be falling on already underpaid, overworked care workers, who would be even more stretched”.
“I’ve used the time to talk about the way in which the government’s response to this has neglected social care, including a national shortage of PPE and testing, and how that’s risking the lives of staff, of residents and of the gneral public”.
“Because I have spoken out about this, I’ve been sacked from my employment. But this isn’t just about me, it’s not just about one individual case or even one employer. Care workers across the country are being easily exploited by their employers”, she added.
The trust that owns the care home where she worked denied PPE shortage.
Whittome, MP from Nottingham East, asked care workers to contact her in confidence, adding that her office is collecting evidence of how they are underpaid, undervalued and fear speaking out due to uncertain employment status.
Martin Allen of trade union GMB said: “The GMB is the union for all care workers and has been clear in demanding proper PPE provision in care since day one of this crisis, no ifs no buts. Nadia has been doing fantastic work holding the government to account on PPE and highlighting the issue of PPE in care homes as a matter of national concern.”
Official daily casualty figures initially did not include those in care homes and hospices. As evidence grew of growing number of deaths in these situations, the Boris Johnson government included them, highlighting the virus spread.
Casualty figures in care homes included the iconic Indian editor, Gulshan Ewing, who passed away in a London care home in April aged 92.
