The Welsh government is to award around 53,000 registered care home and home care workers £1,000 to “recognise the value” of the care force and help with staff retention – but the bonus will not be offered to auxiliary staff such as cleaning and kitchen workers.

“While I welcome the bonus scheme for the care workforce in Wales, it does seem to be grossly unfair that other workers in care homes such as kitchen staff, cleaners, caretakers and maintenance staff are being excluded,” said Welsh Conservative MS Darren Millar.

“People working in these posts have gone above and beyond during the pandemic and were very much on the frontlines during the pandemic.”

Anwen Jones, a kitchen assistant at Plas Hafan care home in Nefyn, Gwynedd, told the BBC that the decision makes some workers feel “not as worthy”.

“I feel it’s quite unfair because it’s not about the money, it’s about splitting up the home, making you feel not as good as the rest of the workers there,” she said. “We’ve always worked as a team in the home we work in, and we feel like it’s splitting us all up.”

Ancillary staff benefited from schemes in 2020 and 2021, which made payments of £500 and £735, the Welsh government has highlighted.

A government spokesperson said: “This additional payment is different from the previous schemes. It is aligned with the introduction of the Real Living Wage for those, largely professionally registered, social care workers.

“While ancillary staff in care homes work in the social care sector, and provide essential support that helps maintain the quality of provision, they are not delivering personal care services and are not required to register as social care professionals with Social Care Wales. They are therefore not within the scope of this particular initiative.”