To What Extent Will England’s Compulsory NHS Vaccination Policy Be a Success?

 by Elinor Jeynes

 

The benefits of the mandatory vaccination programme are clear as the Covid jab is able to reduce your risk of getting seriously unwell or dying from Covid-19. The vaccine also reduces your risk of spreading or catching the virus and protects against variants. This is clearly essential for healthcare workers who are helping the most vulnerable individuals who could be seriously affected by the virus and its complications. It can be argued that as a staff member of the NHS you have a duty of care towards your patients and so receiving the vaccine hub is a simple process and is not too heavily demanding. 

In November 2021 the government declared that NHS staff in England must have their first vaccine by the 3rd of February and be fully vaccinated by the 1st April. The UK’s Department of Health said there were no plans to delay and it was “the right thing to do to protect patients”. These plans were not well received by every aspect of the Healthcare system as many key groups responded negatively to this decision at the fear of staff shortages. The Royal College of GPs said that the deadline for health workers in England to have a Covid jab should be delayed to prevent staff shortages as the NHS is already understaffed. Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said compulsory vaccination for health professionals in England was "not the right way forward". He also suggests that “a delay would allow time for booster jabs and a "sensible conversation" about whether vaccines should be mandatory at all.” Many professionals are arguing that with a mandatory vaccination the staff shortages currently faced by the NHS due to covid isolation absences and a lack of funding will be worsened. A lack of staff would mean that the waitlist to access healthcare which has already been lengthened by Covid would further increase. This is seen most prevalently in the NHS mental health services where there are currently 374,000 under 18-year-olds on the official waiting list for NHS mental health care. 

The NHS in Wales has responded to England's decision by asserting that they will not make vaccines compulsory for NHS staff in Wales as First Minister Mark Drakeford said a “vast majority” of care sector staff has also taken the “protections that vaccination offers.” The Welsh minister said that he would not rule out offering jobs to unvaccinated staff from England and that they would be interviewed under the standard NHS application process. This decision was a shock to many in Wales due to the fact that the Covid restrictions brought in by Wales during the pandemic were often much more severe. The decision by Wales to not make vaccination mandatory in Healthcare could potentially create a divide between the two countries' services as there is the possibility of staff losses to Wales. Scotland has also made no proposals to make COVId jabs compulsory for NHS workers or care home staff whilst in Northern Ireland there will be a public consultation. 

Opposition towards the vaccine was also seen clearly in the protest in central London this week where NHS staff laid their uniforms down in Trafalgar Square in London. 94.3% of NHS trust health care workers in England have had a first dose of vaccine, and 91.5% have had a second dose but there is fear that this percentage is not high enough to be effective over the vaccine. Data also shows there were 1,480,351 staff on the electronic record - although not all in patient facing roles. Some 1,395,268 staff members had had a first jab, leaving 85,083 unvaccinated. This shows that the mandatory vaccination programme could have devastating impacts on the future of the NHS if those staff members leave.