Shropshire NHS staff urged to get Covid jabs despite expected U-turn
As the Government looks set to U-turn on mandatory Covid vaccines for frontline NHS workers, Shropshire health bosses are still urging staff to get vaccinated.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid earlier this week confirmed that the controversial policy is under review.
A consultation on the plans has been launched amid warnings that thousands of unvaccinated health staff across the country could face the sack on April 1 – with a February 3 deadline to have had their first jab.
The situation would add to the pressure being felt by under-strain NHS trusts across the country.
The latest figures for the county – which record data up to the end of December – show that 936 Shropshire NHS workers were yet to have two jabs – and would be at risk of losing their jobs if the policy is not dropped.
At Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust there were 641 workers without both jabs, with 92 per cent of the workforce having received two doses.
At the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, near Oswestry, 164 workers were yet to receive both doses, while 93 per cent of the workforce met the criteria, and at Shropshire Community Health Trust there were 131 workers who had not received both jabs, while 95 per cent of the trust's staff had received both.
Despite the potential for the policy to be imminently dropped, the county's health chiefs are still encouraging workers to get jabbed.
They have also said discussions could take place with any staff members who are concerned about the vaccine.
A spokesman for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System, said: “While currently, it is no longer a mandatory requirement for staff to get their Covid-19 vaccination, we strongly support and encourage all our staff to get their jab as soon as possible to protect themselves, their patients and their loved ones.
"The offer to any member of staff with concerns to have a discussion about the vaccination still remains.
"As a system in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin the vast majority of our patient facing staff are already fully vaccinated and we will continue to promote the vaccination to all of our staff.”
The Royal College of Nursing's regional director for the West Midlands, Lindsay Meeks, has said the proposal was "never the right or proportionate thing to do".
She said: "The NHS across the Midlands has a persistent shortage of almost 8,000 registered nurses. The workforce is already depleted, and staff are exhausted by the pandemic, so the prospect of unvaccinated workers being dismissed was unthinkable. It would have seriously jeopardised patient care.
“We support vaccination for health care staff, and the vast majority of NHS staff are vaccinated, but we believe they should be able to exercise a choice about vaccination without facing an ultimatum to either have the jab or lose their job."
