Just one day after voting against weekly Covid-19 testing of NHS and social care staff, Conservative Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely issued a press release praising NHS and care home staff on the Isle of Wight.
The motion had been put forward by Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jon Ashworth, and called for (among other things):
The Government to implement a routine weekly testing programme for all NHS and Social Care staff to enable NHS services to safely resume and ensure the continuity of services throughout the winter alongside a functional, national, public test, trace and isolate system
In his speech to the House, Bob Seely said, “The more we can test staff—fortnightly, if not weekly—the better,” so News OnTheWight has asked Mr Seely why he chose to vote against the motion for weekly testing and we’ll update once we hear back.
CARE badge scheme
As well as the items already picked out in Mr Seely’s press release (read in full), he’d also asked in his speech to the House for an update on when the Government CARE badge scheme would be launched.
Back in April Matt Hancock (Health and Social Care Secretary) put the CARE badge scheme back in the spotlight, when he hailed it as a “badge of honour” to unite the social care workforce under one banner.
CARE badge brand rights transferred Matt Hancock
The scheme was actually launched in June 2019 by a Community Interest Company called Care Badge and Nursing Times reporting in February 2020 that it had “really taken off”, with 100,000 of the green badges already sold.
However, following Mr Hancock’s speech in April, the official Website for Care Badge now reads,
The CARE badge brand rights have now been transferred to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care.
To prevent the possible lopsided distribution of both CARE badges and information about their use, we have halted issuing badges and associated logos until the necessary new details are finalised.
Image: United Nations under CC BY 2.0
