Since 11 November 2021, workers in Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated care homes in England must be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they were exempt. The regulations were extended with the need for all workers in the Health and Social Care sector who have face-to-face contact with service users, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from 01 April 2022.
On 09 February 2022, the government published a consultation seeking views on the revocation of vaccination as a condition of employment across all health and social care settings. It is believed that the consultation process commenced following the government’s announcement of the relaxation of COVID-19 rules and restrictions across England.
The government published their response to the consultation on 01 March 2022. It is reported that 90% of the 90,000 responses to the consultation supported the revocation of mandatory vaccination in the health and social care sectors. It appears there was some variation amongst the different groups, however, the government went with the majority and decided to introduce revocation regulations that will come into force on 15 March 2022.
Whilst the government’s intention is to revoke the mandatory vaccination for the Health and Social Care workers, it considers that they still have a professional duty to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The announcement has been welcomed by the health and social care sector but care homes are angry that their concerns over how the mandate would impact on them fell on deaf ears.
What now?
Unfortunately, many feel the government’s U-turn has come too late in the day for thousands of workers in care homes, who have already lost their jobs. Given the very last-minute U-turn, employers and employees will be questioning what this means for them and what protections are in place for them.
We have helped many businesses successfully devise and implement new sick pay policies and vaccination policies and can advise on and tailor a policy that is right for your business.
If you need any help with how these changes may affect you please contact us today.
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