Nursing Times Resources for the nursing profession
Nurses who decline the Covid-19 vaccine could be redeployed to a different area, under new health service guidance for England.
The updated document, dated 12 March 2021, states that employers can consider moving staff who have refused the vaccine to a “less exposure prone setting”.
“If the risk to the member of staff, their colleagues or patients is still very significant, they could be moved into a less exposure prone setting as an option”
NHS guidance
The guidance from NHS England stressed that the Covid-19 vaccine was “our most potent tool in keeping staff safe” and sets out ways to increase uptake.
Frontline health and social care staff are among the highest priority for Covid-19 vaccination in the UK, but having the vaccine is not mandatory.
The NHS guidance included new advice for employers on what to do if staff refused the vaccine.
It stated that a one-to-one conversation should be had between the hesitant staff member and either a line manager or a different “person of trust”, such as a clinician, vaccinator, peer or chaplain.
According to the guidance, these types of conversations had been shown to convince people to change their mind about having the vaccine in 60-70% of cases in primary care.
However, the document added: “If a staff member declines to disclose their vaccine status or following a sensitive one-to-one conversation, supported by occupational health colleagues, decides to decline the vaccine, a conversation on job adjustments will need to be conducted to move them into a less exposure prone setting. These conversations may require input from local trade union representatives.”
Related articles
Before redeployment, other measures should be taken to keep staff who refuse the vaccine safe, according to the guidance.
These include ensuring they have and are using appropriate personal protective equipment and that they are aware of infection control standards.
Those who need to wear a FFP3 respirator mask should receive a fit test, while employers must also make sure staff members have an up-to-date risk assessment.
However, it added: “In addition to the above, if the risk to the member of staff, their colleagues or patients is still very significant, they could be moved into a less exposure prone setting as an option.”
“Staff who are not vaccinated may also present a risk to patients or clients as a result”
Helen Donovan
Latest data from NHS England published on 11 March showed that 1,098,253 frontline health workers had received at least a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine – equivalent to 94.8%.
Helen Donovan, professional lead for public health nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, stressed that no-one could be forced to have the vaccine including health workers.
However, she added: “Staff should be offered every opportunity to access vaccination.
“They also need to be able to make the decision to have the vaccine in a supportive environment with the right information, encouragement and a clear explanation of its benefit and value.
Helen Donovan
“Vaccination will help protect nurses and healthcare workers from serious disease and help protect them from transmitting infection to others.
“Staff who are not vaccinated may also present a risk to patients or clients as a result,” said Ms Donovan.
She added that the RCN would be closely monitoring how trusts responded to the latest guidance, including that around redeployment.
“Employers must demonstrate the rigorous risk assessments they have carried out and the evidence of how a different role would mitigate the risks,” said Ms Donovan.
“Redeployment is not a simple ‘one size fits all’ solution and employers must examine it with the individual on a factual risk basis.”
mmm why are any nurses refusing the vaccine? I have strong views. If you dismiss the evidence for vaccination you dismiss the very concept of evidence based practice.Nurses who decline vaccination should question their position as nurses. An analogy would be taxi drivers refusing to wear seat belts because they do not agree with them.
Everyone is entitled to their preference. The nurses who decide they do not want it have their own valid reasons for not wanting it. That is a ridiculous statement to make that nurses who refuse shud ‘consider their positions as nurses’. Respect for the nurses that do take it but also just as much respect for those who don’t want it.
So are we just dismissing all the evidence that vaccines can and do cause death and significant injury / disability? Are we just keeping our fingers crossed that this completely new novel vaccine has not long term negative effects? The data we have is only months old. Your strong views are evidently misguided as you seemingly do not have all the facts.
Perhaps this has more to do with a ‘trust’ issue and a broken relationship between nurses and management and between nurses and the government and the handling of this pandemic. Perhaps this is one way the disempowered can act. The evidence is ever changing and progressing. We have witnessed how ‘science’ has been used to control behaviour and generate groupthink by denying legitimate robust debate. I had Covid and have the antibodies, but I also had the injection in the hope that some day I would be allowed to travel and visit my elderly mother. There are still many uncertainties about the vaccines and their long term effectiveness. Enforced vaccination raises all kinds of issues regarding human rights and civil liberties.
Everyone has preferences as you say. These too can be described as rights, however, surely people also have a responsibility to their clients and patients. Is it not irresponsible for a member of the caring professions, exposed to so many vulnerable people, not to take every step that they can to protect those clients and patients. If they are unable to have the vaccine, it does not remove the need to protect their client group. We are so short staffed- what to do?