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17
Nov 2021
Hundreds of Harrogate hospital staff still unvaccinated
The race is on to vaccinate around 450 frontline staff at Harrogate District Hospital after the government announced it was making covid jabs mandatory.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid last week announced he expected to set a deadline for all unvaccinated workers to get both jabs by the beginning of April in a move which he said would help protect patients and the NHS as a whole.
However, there are concerns it could lead to more staffing shortages in the health service which is still dealing with pandemic pressures and long backlogs.
The vaccine mandate will affect around 100,000 unvaccinated staff in England and follows a consultation which considered whether the rules already in place for care home workers should be introduced.
It is estimated around 90% of all staff are vaccinated, although the numbers vary at different hospital trusts with coverage at some falling to around 80%.
At Harrogate District Hospital, the figure is 91% although bosses believe it could be higher as it doesn’t take into account new starters or staff who have been vaccinated outside of work.
Steve Russell, chief executive at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:
The deadline for care home workers to get vaccinated passed last week with around 250 staff in North Yorkshire now facing losing their jobs if they can not be redeployed.
Read More:
- Major drop in applications for social care jobs across North Yorkshire
- Care sector staffing crisis in North Yorkshire prompts major recruitment drive
- Compulsory covid vaccines make recruitment harder, say district care homes
Officials at North Yorkshire County Council – which has launched its biggest-ever care recruitment campaign – say vaccine take up in the county has been good, although they admitted the numbers of unvaccinated staff was still significant for a sector already struggling with a depleted workforce.
If a similar trend is seen for the NHS, the health service could find itself severely short of staff come the spring.
Mr Russell added:
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