Coronavirus: nursery group criticises confusion over staff isolation rules

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.’