200 staff yet to receive vaccine at King's Mill and Mansfield hospitals

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sutton’s King’s Mill, Mansfield Community and Newark hospitals, says it needs to address vaccine hesitancy among some workers.

It comes after the Government changed healthcare rules to make it mandatory for frontline hospital workers to receive the Covid vaccine, with the new guidance coming into effect from April.

The latest trust board meeting heard about 96 per cent of roughly 5,000 workers have received two doses of the jab, while about 83 per cent have also received their booster jab.

However, the board heard about 200 people are yet to come forward for even one dose – and have until February 3 to get their jab if they are to be fully vaccinated ahead of April 1.

At present, being ‘fully vaccinated’ means having two doses of the jab, but this is expected to change in the future in light of the booster roll-out and the Omicron variant.

Rob Simcox, trust deputy director of people, said unvaccinated staff are now being spoken with.

He said: “Principally this requires healthcare workers to have a mandatory vaccine, meaning any individual in a healthcare position regulated by the Care Quality Commission will require to be vaccinated.

“At the moment, we’re in phase one, a supportive phase of having conversations which are personally-centred with individuals we have no record of receiving a vaccine.

“We have started to establish themes and patterns, including data cleansing, where records have not been truly accurate, and we’re working through that.

“There’s also recognition there’s a fair bit of vaccine hesitancy out there, particularly around individuals of a child-bearing age, who feel there is a potential impact on their fertility.

“We have engaged with everybody on their record of vaccination, written to them personally and are working out the detail.”

Adjustments

He said the next phase, which launches in mid-January, will explore any ‘reasonable adjustments’ needed for people who still choose not to receive the vaccine.

The rule was passed in Parliament last month in a bid to ensure all frontline healthcare workers are operating in a safe capacity, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid describing it as ‘critical to patient safety’.

David Selwyn, trust medical director, urged people to get their vaccine and said he expects further booster doses in the future.

He said: “It is well-recognised nationally and internationally that Omicron produces, in the majority of people, relatively mild disease – but only if you are vaccinated.

“If you’re not vaccinated, it produces very significant disease. There are still a series of comparisons with Covid and flu, but it’s a very different disease and the severity of illness is extraordinary with people who get sick with Covid.

“From a medical point of view, I strongly encourage everyone to have the vaccinations as soon as you can.

“We don’t know what is likely to happen going forward, but I would surmise there will be further booster doses and that’s almost certainly needed to protect the population from this disease.”

The SFH board heard King’s Mill Hospital’s vaccination hub has administered about 193,000 vaccines since it first opened in December 2020.

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