Covid-19 jabs to be compulsory for home care workers from April

Home care workers and frontline NHS staff will be required by law to have the Covid-19 vaccine from next April in order to keep their jobs, the health secretary has announced.

Only workers who do not have face-to-face contact with patients or who are medically exempt will not be required to get vaccinated.

Sajid Javid told MPs in Westminster, he had considered responses to a public consultation before making a decision.

The government carried out a consultation on mandatory vaccination which ended on 22 October.

The Department of Health and Social Care received survey responses about mandatory vaccination between 8-15 October from 150 care providers across England, who give care to almost 27,000 people and have 33,500 staff.

Referring to mandatory jabs for home care workers and NHS, and the number of unvaccinated, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "If we look at what has happened with social care, care homes, since that policy was announced, there was a significant fall in the equivalent number and I think we can certainly expect that here.

“We've chosen for the condition not to come into force until 12 weeks after parliamentary approval, allowing time for remaining colleagues to make the positive choice to protect themselves of those around them, and time for workforce planning.

"Allow me to be clear that no-one in the NHS or care that is currently unvaccinated should be scapegoated, singled out or shamed.

"That would be totally unacceptable. This is about supporting them to make a positive choice to protect vulnerable people, to protect their colleagues. And of course to protect themselves."

‘Bullying approach’

Dr Jane Townson, the chief executive of the Homecare Association, which represents over 2,340 home care providers nationally, said: “The Homecare Association strongly supports vaccination of the homecare workforce and we lobbied hard, right from the beginning, to ensure it was as easy as possible for homecare workers to access vaccinations.

“From the outset, though, we have argued that persuasion is likely to be more effective than compulsion in encouraging uptake among remaining care workers with genuine fears.”

As a result of the government’s decision, the association believes up to a quarter the regulated homecare workforce (between 120,000 and 140,000 care workers) will be forced to leave their jobs and the care sector.

Dr Townson added: “We are thus disappointed by the government’s policy decision; their bullying approach towards the health and care workforce; and their failure to acknowledge the potential risks of losing at least 120,000 care workers.

"The government has no contingency plan for dealing with a potential loss of regulated homecare for over 120,000 older and disabled people. Who will care for them? How will councils and the NHS cope with the fallout?"

Care staff shortages 'contributing to ambulance queues'

A shortage of care staff has led to councils being unable to help all those who need support in the community. NHS hospitals report difficulties in discharging people back home with support, due to inadequate capacity in home care which, the chief executive said “is contributing to ambulance queues and difficulty in reducing waiting lists”.

Dr Townson also accused the government of "favouring unregulated care" by exempting from compulsory vaccination the 130,000 care workers (20 per cent of the home care workforce) that work outside the regulated care system.

She said the government’s decision to delay implementing Covid vaccination as a condition of deployment until 1 April 2022, had brought “some comfort” to the home care sector.

She said good progress had been made on vaccinations, with 84 per cent of home care workers receiving a first dose of the vaccine and 75 per cent getting a second dose.

The April deadline, Dr Townson said “buys time to attempt to persuade the remaining 25 per cent of the home care workforce" that vaccination against Covid benefits them.

Covid vaccines for care home workers have already been made compulsory - with a deadline of Thursday, 11 November for them to be fully vaccinated.

Home care providers see the government's decision as impacting former social care workers who were forced to leave the care sector to move to the NHS, where they had hoped to avoid the impact of mandatory vaccination legislation. Care workers who moved from care homes into home care will now also have to leave the care sector as they are forced out of their roles, once the policy comes into effect in April 2022.

Karolina Gerlich, chief executive of The Care Workers’ Charity, has called the legislation an “ill-thought out policy” that has been “introduced to the detriment of the sector, its workforce, and all those who draw on social care provision”.

“As a charity we encourage people to get vaccinated but we believe everyone should have the right to choose. We call on the Government to urgently look into recalling this legislation”.