Hundreds of Mansfield and Ashfield NHS jobs saved as Government U-turns on mandatory vaccination

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said there are plans to scrap the rule, and a consultation is being launched.

In November, he announced frontline NHS workers in England would have to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus by April 1.

The Government has faced pressure to scrap the policy, due to fears of catastrophic levels of job losses because some staff are still yet to get a jab.

The U-turn means all frontline NHS and social care workers in England will no longer have to be fully vaccinated in order to keep their jobs, provided Parliamentary approval is won following the consultation.

Mr Javid told MPs it was ‘only right’ the policy was reviewed, just days ahead of February 3, the date by which completely unvaccinated staff needed to have their first jab in order to meet the April deadline.

The latest board meeting at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, which runs Mansfield Community and Sutton’s King’s Mill hospitals, in early January, heard about 200 of its staff were yet to come forward for the vaccine.

Rob Simcox, trust deputy director of people, told the meeting: “We’re in a supportive phase of having conversations with individuals we have no record of receiving a vaccine.

“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.”

Welcome

Coun Ben Bradley, Mansfield MP and Nottinghamshire Council leader, has welcomed the proposed rule change.

He said: “I’ve spoken against it on several occasions. The impact on our health service and social care service, which locally I am responsible for, would be huge.

“We’ve already seen care staff having to leave the profession and we would’ve been set to lose up to 10 per cent of our remaining workforce in home care.

“While I understand a lot of people would rather have a vaccinated nurse or care worker than an unvaccinated one, truthfully that’s not the choice when you’re talking about redundancies on this scale.

“It would be a case of nurse/care worker or nobody and that is not a situation we can cope with.

“It is a great thing and important for the service and all those individual members of staff who have grafted throughout the most high-risk period of the pandemic to know they are secure in their jobs going forward.”

In a letter to NHS employers, NHS England and NHS Improvement said: “Huge effort has been put into increasing the already high take-up among NHS staff, whether through one-to-one conversations or the many other methods deployed.

“This is appreciated. We have always been clear staff have a professional duty to do so.

“The Government’s decision is subject to Parliamentary process and will require further consultation and a vote to be passed into legislation.

“We are aware, based on the guidance already issued to the service, you will have begun to prepare for formal meetings with staff on their deployment if they remain unvaccinated.

“This change in Government policy means we request employers do not serve notice of termination to employees affected by the regulations.”

A message from Jon Ball, your Chad Editor: Please support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.