Nine in 10 workers at Shropshire's main hospitals are 'fully vaccinated against Covid'
Nine in 10 workers at the trust running Shropshire's main hospitals have been fully vaccinated to protect them against Covid, its board of directors has been told.
It will soon become compulsory for frontline NHS staff in England to be fully vaccinated against Covid, unless they are exempt, with the intention for this to come into force in April.
A meeting of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust's board heard yesterday that staff are being supported to get their Covid booster and flu jabs.
And it was announced that 91 per cent of the workforce is already fully vaccinated against coronavirus.
Emma Wilkins, deputy people director at SaTH, said: "From a Covid booster position we are just shy of 5,200 – about 67 per cent – and from a flu perspective we are just shy of 4,000, running at 54 per cent.
"We are opening more clinics throughout December and January.
"We have got increasing communications and we are targeting low uptake areas so we can ensure that everyone can access those jabs. "Alongside this we are also supporting our staff who maybe haven't had the vaccine yet to ensure that we are ready for April next year with regards to the mandatory vaccine.
"However, I am pleased to report that 91 per cent of our workforce are fully vaccinated in respect of Covid."
A report to the board, outlining the trust's performance, also said that Covid related absence continued to be at average levels during October with consistent levels of staff testing positive, averaging three per day.
In the report, director of people Rhia Boyode writes: "Overall, we are seeing higher non-Covid-19 absence levels than normally expected for this time of year.
"Absence rate of 5.7 per cent equating to 338 whole time equivalent staff.
"Absence levels attributed to causes mental health and conditions such as musculoskeletal, coughs, colds, and flu remain high."
