Care workers across the North East have highlighted how "disheartening" staff and residents at homes across the region are finding it to hear news showing the Prime Minister and other Downing Street figures "have not been practising what they preach" during the pandemic.
Managers at Eothen Homes and Community Integrated Care told ChronicleLive that hearing about politicians breaking the rules we've followed for two years had a very real affect on morale - and in some cases made it harder to look after residents.
The latest revelation saw ITV reveal that Boris Johnson had been surprised b a "party" for his birthday in June 2020 - and that tens of people had attended and sang to him, including interior designer Lulu Lytle.
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The Met Police announced they are now investigating - and the civil service report into the issue is now likely to be delayed.
Patrick Ivory - a service leader at CIC working across supported accommodation for those with complex needs in Rutherford Gardens, Cheshire Avenue and the Stone Street flats in Gateshead - said: "It's very disheartening for the people we support and for our staff teams.
"Back then, when it comes to our exhausted staff, I could see the fear in their eyes in case they were to do something wrong. One mistake could cause an outbreak and lead to real difficulty. If Covid were to get in, it could go through the whole service.
"As for the people we support, some of the people I work with, they couldn't understand. 'If it's my birthday, why can't my family or friends come in?' they would say. Lots of these people have capacity and are quite independent but rules and regulations can really frustrate them and make them angry. And now it just makes them angry to see the news."
He said that while his staff had been excellent, the strain and sacrifice -while Boris Johnson was being wished happy birthday - had been tough to manage, and he said many of the people his team look after just didn't understand.
And he explained the people he looks after were aware of the news, and it had led to some difficult conversations.
"If these people could do what they wanted, why could I not? That's what they say," he added. "That's how the people we support feel. Through the pandemic, it's just been more restrictions for people who have restrictions unfortunately already. And with a lot of those we support, anxiety and stress can cause them not to be themselves.
"With the people we support I have chats about football and that sort of thing. There's one lad who just really wasn't happy when he saw some of this news [about Boris Johnson's birthday party].
"He wants to go to visit his nana - and she's an elderly lady and quite vulnerable, but now he just wants to go. 'They're all going where they want, so why can't I?' he says."
Patrick, who lives in South Shields, added that the news of rule-breaking made it harder to keep the people he looked after safe - though he emphasised he and his team would continue to ensure that, with Covid still at high levels in the community, infection prevention rules would remain vital.
Looking back to the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, he added: "We do have those we support who are more vulnerable than others. For example there's someone who has Down's Syndrome. He was isolated for three or four months. He wasn't able to see his family and his mother was quite elderly. She would call every day to give some sense of family but it's far from the same.
"It does make our life difficult - what's been going on with these parties is so disheartening it really is. For the team, it's just to think we have made all these sacrifices. while on the other side these people are able to do and go to what they want it seems."
Christina Nichol is care and compliance officer at Eothen - which runs care and nursing homes in Whitley Bay, Gosforth and Wallsend. She said that while staff were focused on their jobs, it was "really disappointing" to see the string of news stories.
"For us, our Gosforth home has probably had the most birthdays - and they've been some big birthdays too," she said. People turning 100, that kind of thing. These are big milestones and for some possibly the last big birthdays they'll have.
"Now we've got to a point where things are more normal. But earlier, this might have been the last big birthday, usually it'd be celebrated at a family home or maybe in a pub and people just couldn't do that.
"With this news we get comments from the residents who watch the news. The staff seem to almost work too hard to notice. They work such long hours and have just been focusing on their jobs. Obviously it's disappointing for everyone when in the face of such restrictions you find out others weren't practising what they have been preaching."
Christina explained that while staff had stepped up - working late and even providing in-house entertainment for birthdays during the pandemic - it has not been the same for residents.
"Staff have really focused on what they've been able to do to make up for things during the pandemic - they've even provided entertainment themselves, or come in early and stay late to make sure things are special," she said. "They've done whatever they can think of.
"In the early days of course visiting was entirely suspended - we were getting by with Skype or Facebook video to for our residents to celebrate with families. Back then our residents were really desperate to see their loved ones."
