Hundreds of Surrey care home workers miss Covid vaccination deadline
Last updated 19th Nov 2021
Hundreds of Surrey care home workers are at risk of losing their jobs because they have missed the Government deadline to get double jabbed from coronavirus.
The Government made it compulsory for all adult care home staff to be fully vaccinated against covid, except for those who are medically exempt.
Last Thursday (November 11), was the deadline in England to have their second vaccine or provide proof of medical exemption, but four days before the deadline, 1,476 care home workers in Surrey (11 per cent) were not fully vaccinated.
This is higher than the average in England at the time, 9.8 per cent.
Rebecca Pritchard, chief executive of Surrey Care Association (SCA) which represents more than 220 social care providers in the county, said: “The mandate will push some people out and therefore will be a real challenge.”
The aim of the mandate is to protect vulnerable elderly residents, but amid an already “acute recruitment and retention crisis”, it could not come at a worse time according to SCA.
Their members reported 899 unfilled jobs last month – and that is just the ones who responded to the survey, who employ a total of 5,359 people.
Surrey County Council’s public health director Ruth Hutchinson said: “Although we have reassuringly high numbers of care home residents in Surrey vaccinated, there are still some people living in care homes who either can’t be vaccinated or won’t be completely protected by the vaccine.
“With the prevalence of flu and Covid-19 rising this winter it’s so important that we protect more vulnerable people, who might have a combination of risk factors – such as age or underlying health conditions – because for them, these illnesses could be life-threatening.
“Research shows that the vaccine not only reduces the risk of getting seriously ill or dying from Covid, it also reduces the risk of catching or spreading it. That means that getting the Covid vaccine is the best way to protect everyone working in care homes, and the vulnerable people they care for.”
Ms Pritchard said for some workers being ordered to have a vaccine felt like “the last straw” when they were already burnt out and being asked to work additional hours and paid not to take holiday.
She said: “I know some people have moved.
“Ironically they went to work in the NHS or supported living and are going to have to go through the consultation process again.”
Some workers moved out of care homes into personal care in the home as a result of the mandate, only to hear this month that from April compulsory vaccines will be extended to all health and social care workers in England who have face-to-face contact with patients.
Ms Pritchard said: “The council has done a huge amount of work, 1-2-1s sitting down with people who are worried.
“If someone isn’t sure, if you are told ‘You’ve got to do this’, psychologically it pushes people into the defensive and it can become more entrenched.
“For some it just makes them draw the line in the sand.”
Older adult care homes in Surrey employ 13,433 staff. Of these, 11,957 (89 per cent) were reported to be double jabbed on November 7.
As of this date 822 workers in Surrey (6.1 per cent) had not even had one dose, compared with 5.3 per cent in England.
Care home workers have the option of being deployed away from a frontline role or taking unpaid leave until they can be fully vaccinated.
According to law, anyone unable to provide proof of vaccination or exemption can be dismissed or moved to an alternative role for which vaccination is not required. This is enforced by the Care Quality Commission.