Chris Hopson, the Chief Executive of NHS Providers has sent a warning that the NHS could suffer severe staff shortages this winter if mandatory vaccination for NHS staff comes into effect. Approximately 10% of all NHS workers haven’t received two doses of a Covid vaccine, which encompasses roughly 120,000 members of staff, with Hopson saying that any vaccine mandate should be delayed until April to avoid any serious problems over the next few months. The Telegraph has the story.
Latest NHS figures show that 90% of staff have been double-jabbed. However, about 120,000 workers are not – and at some trusts, including major hospitals in London and Birmingham, uptake is as low as 80%.
Barts Health NHS Trust, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust, North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust all have an uptake of 80% or less, according to NHS figures for the week ending October 14th.
Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, last week said he is “leaning towards” making jabs compulsory for frontline health workers.
But on Monday Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said that if the Government was to press ahead, it should delay until April to ensure the NHS can get through the “very, very difficult winter”…
Hopson said around two thirds of NHS leaders backed mandatory jabs, but one third objected.
He told BBC Breakfast: “If we lose very large numbers of unvaccinated staff, particularly over the winter period, then that also constitutes a risk to patient safety and quality of care.
“We know – and the Chief Medical Officer has said this really clearly – that we’ve got a very, very difficult winter coming up and we know the NHS is going to be absolutely at full stretch.
“So it makes sense to set the deadline once that winter period has passed”.
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