Mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff under consultation

This is my first communication with you in 2022, so a belated Happy New Year from me!

January of this year saw the publication of NHS England's Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD) for Healthcare Workers-Phase 2 (Implementation) (NHS England, 2022).

Much has been made of this in the media, with some supporting the need for mandatory vaccination for frontline staff, and some questioning it based on freedom of choice and evidence base. We know that a significant enough number of NHS staff remain unvaccinated and the implications this has for the practice environment. The guidance from NHS England is very clear. Frontline (patient-facing) staff must be fully vaccinated by 1 April 2022 to avoid redeployment or termination of employment. This means that to comply with this edict, staff currently unvaccinated must have had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination by the 3 February 2022. Records will be made available to trusts to check on the status of vaccination of their staff to allow them to comply with legislation. This means that as of 4 February 2022, communication will be made with those who have not had their first dose and an action plan set in place. The guidance does urge redeployment as the first option but if this is not possible, or if the redeployment of unvaccinated staff would interfere with the redeployment of other staff with protected characteristics who by law must be redeployed, then the dismissal of the unvaccinated member of staff is permitted.