Hundreds of unvaccinated Derbyshire NHS staff set to lose their jobs due to mandatory Covid vaccines have been given a last-minute lifeline

One of the region’s largest unions claimed the Government had finally realised it had been about to make a “huge mistake” over the policy.

As of the latest figures, more than 730 Derbyshire NHS staff have not had a Covid vaccine and would have been losing their jobs on Thursday, February 3.

However, on January 31, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced in Parliament that the mandatory vaccine policy will now be reviewed with a view to scrapping it.

Mr Javid said evidence of the risk of hospitalisation from the Omicron Covid variant gave him cause to reconsider the policy.

He said scrapping the mandate would also include the same policy for unvaccinated care home staff, many of whom already lost their jobs in November.

Those staff would now be able to reapply for their former roles.

In early January, Derbyshire County Council called on unqualified authority staff to help it plug a shortfall in employees to run its care homes.

This was attributed to Covid-19 related absence but may have been further hindered by the vaccine mandate and any trained authority or agency staff who could have been on hand to help.

Mr Javid said the NHS mandatory vaccine policy could also be brought back again if the dominant strain of Covid was to change again, for the worst.

Mr Javid said: “The evidence shows that the risk of presentation to emergency care or hospital admission with Omicron is approximately half of that for Delta.

“Given these dramatic changes, it is not only right but responsible to revisit the balance of risks and opportunities that guided our original decision last year.

“While vaccination remains our very best line of defence against Covid-19, I believe that it is no longer proportionate to require vaccination as a condition of deployment through statute.

“I am announcing that we will launch a consultation on ending vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and all social care settings.

“Subject to the responses and the will of this house, the Government will revoke the regulations.

“I have always been clear that our rules must remain proportionate and balanced, and of course, should we see another dramatic change in the virus, it would be only responsible to review this policy again.”

The latest data provided to the Local Democracy Reporting Service by Derbyshire’s NHS trusts shows there were more than 730 unvaccinated staff who were set to lose their jobs.

This is how that figure breaks down by trust:

Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 173 (3.4 per cent)

Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust – 122 (2.2 per cent)

Derbyshire Healthcare Services NHS Foundation Trust – 94 (2.9 per cent)

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust – 343 (2.2 per cent)

This shows that the vast majority of staff have had a Covid vaccine. Further statistics from our trusts show the vast majority of employees have had their first, second and booster jabs.

A spokesperson for Unison East Midlands, which represents many health professionals, said: “Thousands of care workers have been forced from jobs they love. Many staff will also have quit the NHS ahead of this week’s deadline.

“It shouldn’t have taken the government so long to realise the huge mistake it was making.”

The union’s national officer for nursing, Stuart Tuckwood, said the last-minute change “A badly handled debacle, that they were explicitly warned about, with no doubt bad consequences both for vaccine confidence & the morale of staff”.

He dubbed it “A waste of time and resources that would have been better spent on so many other priorities that Government has ignored”.

Our NHS trusts were approached for comment following Mr Javid’s announcement.

Instead, Joined-Up Care Derbyshire, which oversees all of the health and social care organisations in the county, issued a statement, saying: “Joined Up Care Derbyshire is proud of the high take-up of Covid-19 vaccinations among healthcare staff across the county and city. The most recent data from NHS England showed the local NHS system to be among the best in the country.

“Over 97 per cent of all healthcare staff at the system’s NHS foundation trusts have received a first vaccination dose, while more than 96 per cent have had a second dose.

“Nearly 90 per cent of staff at the three largest trusts have also had a booster, providing further reassurance for patients that staff are committed to vaccination and can provide safe, effective care.

“Vaccination from Covid-19 remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, colleagues and, of course, patients.

“We would like to thank all those colleagues who have taken up the offer of a Covid vaccination, along with all those who have supported them to do so, and continue to maximise vaccine uptake through supportive conversations.”

Meanwhile, Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “This policy was imposed upon the care home sector without due consideration or support.

“Sadly, it has had unintended consequences with staff leaving the sector, some to the NHS, thus exacerbating the pre-existing recruitment and retention challenges leading to disruption to the delivery of health and care services.

“Care homes have been the scapegoat and whilst the Government claims that health and social care are the same system it is clear that they are operating under different standards; once again social care is the poor relation.”

In a joint statement, the chief executives of NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, Matthew Taylor and Chris Hopson, said: “NHS leaders are frustrated to have such a significant change in policy at the 11th hour given all the hard and complex work that has gone into meeting the deadline set by the government.

“They recognise the reasons the Government has given for the changes – the risk to services and the different risk from omicron compared to previous variants. But there will be concern at what this means for wider messaging about the importance of vaccination for the population as a whole.

“We still believe that it is the right thing for as many NHS staff as possible to become vaccinated and our members will continue to encourage individuals to do so, regardless of the change in Government policy on mandation.

“We are also conscious of the impact this will have on our colleagues working in social care.

“A large number of staff left their roles when mandatory vaccination became law in the social care sector last autumn.

“This U-turn will therefore cause similar frustration in social care given the disruption to service delivery that resulted from loss of staff last November.”