Mandatory Covid shots policy divides NHS leaders in England as deadline approaches | NHS

NHS Trust leaders are split on whether the government should go ahead with mandatory hits for healthcare workers in England after the Prime Minister told MPs he was considering easing the Politics.

Around 80,000 frontline NHS workers have still not been vaccinated against Covid and have less than two weeks to receive their first dose in time to be able to complete the course before the April 1 deadline.

Trusts have been told to start laying off or redeploying unvaccinated staff after February 3, but there are more than 90,000 vacancies and thousands more absences for Covid-related reasons. On Friday, Boris Johnson told Tory backbench MPs he was reviewing politics again.

Danny Mortimer, Deputy Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “NHS leaders have always been clear that there are risks as well as benefits to making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for all staff. health and social services.” He said the trusts had told the confederation they “would have preferred more time to implement the policy”.

“As the deadline approaches, some frontline staff will have to leave their current posts if they continue to refuse to be vaccinated. This will further reduce the number of frontline NHS staff and lead to more capacity gaps at a time of intense pressure and patient demand,” he said.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Trust leaders are concerned about worsening staff shortages at a time when the service is under enormous operational pressure. At the time it was proposed, our survey found that 90% of trusted leaders – whether or not they support compulsory vaccinations – were concerned about the potential for further staff shortages in the NHS and social services.

“Some organizations are asking for a postponement of this policy, but we don’t think that’s the answer. Our survey of trusted leaders found that a majority supported this policy as a way to protect colleagues, patients and visitors from cross infection by unvaccinated staff.

Martin Marshall, President of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Our view is that compulsory vaccination for healthcare professionals is not the right way to go. An informed choice is much better than forcing people to get it, because that just risks generating mistrust.

It was reported last night that one option being considered by Downing Street was to delay the demand for six months to help quell a revolt among Tory MPs. The mandatory requirement is likely to be ‘thrown down the road’ amid demands from Tory backbenchers for it to be scrapped altogether, the Ssuch a telegraph reported.

Vaccinations have been made compulsory for social care staff, who are even more understaffed than the NHS, but those who are not vaccinated can apply for an exemption on medical or religious grounds and can self-certify until March 31 .

Despite this, the number of staff employed directly by nursing homes has fallen by more than 20,000 since the regulations were introduced in July 2021.

A study by the Department of Health and Social Care in December found that 81.9% of social service providers found it more difficult to recruit staff than six months earlier, and 70.3% said they was more difficult to retain staff. The second most common reason cited by workers leaving nursing homes was that they did not want to be vaccinated.

Dr Nikki Kanani, deputy head of NHS England’s Covid vaccination programme, said teams had gone to great lengths to administer the vaccines, even kicking someone with learning needs as she was sitting in a hot tub at home.

“Mandatory vaccination is government policy, but as healthcare professionals we all have a duty to make sure we are protected, to make sure our colleagues and our patients are protected,” she said. .

“I know our teams will do everything they can to continue to have conversations about building confidence in vaccines and offer this important vaccination to staff who have not yet received their first, second or dose. reminder.”

The Department of Health and Social Care said: “Ensuring staff are vaccinated is the right thing to do to protect patients and those they care for. The vast majority of NHS staff have received the vaccine, which is our best defense against Covid-19. »