The eight members of staff at Tops Day Nursery in Portsmouth have been told to self-isolate, the group said, due to being given conflicting advice by the local authority PHE and the DfE.
Last week, the staff received a notice to self-isolate through the NHS Test and Trace app, after a colleague tested positive for coronavirus.
All nine members of staff, including the person who tested positive, forgot to pause the contact tracing feature in the app when they placed their phones in their lockers, which is recommended in Department for Education guidelines.
Tops managing director Cheryl Hadland said, ‘We have a strong procedure in place for Covid-19. We reported the case to the DfE, who confirmed that no staff or children were required to self-isolate.
‘Following the test and trace isolation notices, we then contacted the local Public Health England team who advised us that all eight staff members would need to self-isolate.’
Ms Hadland said, ‘It is concerning that we have been given conflicting advice from DfE and PHE. Although the setting has remained open, we have temporarily lost eight staff because of this contradictory advice which in turn puts extra strain on our colleagues working on the front line.’
This is the second time that the nursery group has faced conflicting advice. At Tops Day Nursery Wimborne, staff were in a similar situation after a colleague tested positive and other members of staff who had failed to pause the track and trace app were told to self-isolate.
The DfE told staff that they could keep working because they were in a separate bubble and had no contact with a COVID positive worker. The PHE local team, who originally told staff they must self-isolate because the app had instructed them too, later reversed the decision.
Ms Hadland said, ‘We reached out to Ofsted to alert them about the contradictory advice issued by DfE and PHE and the Test and Trace app issue, and we have been reassured that all staff, except infected workers, should have been allowed to keep working. So they are self-isolating unnecessarily.’
Despite this, staff are still self-isolating because they have been threatened with £1,000 for a first offense, or up to £10,000 for future offenses, if they break the isolation, as stated in the public guidelines.
Ms Hadland said, ‘Theses eight members of staff are at home – on furlough at 80 per cent of their pay – while there is strain on their colleagues. We are using casual staff and the children have lost their key workers, which is hard on them.
‘We are a large nursery group and it’s very challenging, but for stand-alone nurseries, the impact would be manifold.’
A Department for Education spokesperson said, ‘Throughout the pandemic, keeping children and staff safe has remained our priority. Our published guidance sets out the steps nurseries, preschools and childminders must follow to minimise the risks of transmission and continue providing safe and appropriate childcare for families.’
Purnima Tanuku OBE, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said: 'Nurseries and preschools are telling us that managing daily operations are a real challenge in the current pandemic with staff and children having to self-isolate. Situations like this one, where employers get conflicting advice, are not helpful.
'Nurseries are following strict processes and procedures to keep the workplace Covid-safe, which is being acknowledged by health officials. This means that staff are social distancing, reducing the chance of them actually being close contacts. Examples like this highlight just how important it is for staff in early years settings to pause the app while at work to avoid unnecessary self-isolation notifications.'
GUIDANCE FOR EARLY YEARS SETTINGS
Actions for Early Years and Childcare Providers during the Coronavirus states:
- Any members of staff who have helped someone with symptoms and any children who have been in close contact with them do not need to go home to self-isolate - however, they must self-isolate and arrange for a test if they develop symptoms themselves (in which case, they should arrange a test), if the symptomatic person subsequently tests positive or they have been requested to do so by NHS Test and Trace.
- Early years settings must take swift action when they become aware that someone who has attended their setting has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). Providers can contact the dedicated advice service introduced by Public Health England (PHE) and delivered by the NHS Business Services Authority. This can be reached by calling the DfE Helpline on 0800 046 8687 and selecting option 1 for advice on the action to take in response to a positive case. Providers will be put through to a team of advisers who will inform them what action is needed based on the latest public health advice.