Care bosses' anger at 'unbelievable' mandatory Covid jabs on deadline

In July, MPs passed laws requiring care home staff to have coronavirus vaccinations, with the deadline for workers to have their first jab on Thursday, September 16 and both by November 11.

It has been warned that care homes will be forced to make the decision between dismissing unvaccinated staff, leading to significant shortages, or breaking the law by keeping them on.

Raj Seghal, managing director of west Norfolk-based ArmsCare, which runs four homes, said out of 78 staff, 72 had been vaccinated.

Four have already left to work in other organisations, he said, and he is now trying to make up the shortfall.

He added: "The two remaining staff that we have are pregnant and have gone off sick for the duration of their time. All other staff have been double vaccinated or had their first jab.

"Personally I agree people should be vaccinated but I also believe in choice for people as well, everybody has their personal reasons whether founded or unfounded and we have to respect people's choices."

He added: "The sector has suffered from staff shortages for decades now, and unfortunately this has just added another nail in the coffin of the dire situation that the care sector is in."

That concern was shared by Lorraine Dorrington, who runs Dorrington Care Homes in Watton, Dereham and Wells with her husband Steve.

Mrs Dorrington, who has been in care for 45 years, said they had 185 staff in total, 173 who were vaccinated.

Lorraine and Steve Dorrington, who own Dorrington House care homes in Watton, Dereham and Wells (Image: Archant)

She said: "We have already had resignations from three members of staff - there's a total of 12 people we're going to lose.

"We're going to lose a dozen staff and that's a lot to lose from the care industry when it's really hard to recruit at the moment."

She added that a pregnant member of staff was worried about taking the vaccine, while another had said she would leave to find another job.

Mrs Dorrington said: "We're all in favour of the vaccination, however to put it upon our staff like that, what are our staff going to do?

"I feel very nervous as they're expecting us as employers to give them notice."

The owner also questioned why care home staff were required to be double jabbed while other health workers were not.

She asked: "The main thing about it is why is it just the care and nursing homes first not home care and not the NHS?

"I do wonder why aren't they making it across the board. Why don't they do it all in one?

"The residents are in our care and have to go to hospital appointments or might need an emergency appointment. So they're safe in the home because we've all been double vaccinated, but the minute they get into the ambulance or the hospital they could be treated by people who haven't been vaccinated."

She said it was "unbelievable" and came at a time when Brexit was also hitting the sector, which relies on overseas workers.

The government has announced a temporary self-certification process for medical exemptions, which will allow staff and volunteers to self-certify that they meet the medical exemption criteria before the new NHS Covid pass system is introduced.

This includes people with a severe allergy to the vaccines, those who had adverse reactions to their first dose, people who are receiving end-of-life care and people with learning disabilities, autism or with a combination of impairments who find vaccination distressing because of their condition.

Pregnant care home workers and people with short-term medical conditions will also be able to apply for a "time-limited exemption".

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson has previously said: “It is our responsibility to do everything we can to reduce the risk for the most vulnerable and, following extensive public consultation, we have taken an approach that reflects the experiences and concerns of both providers and people living and working in care homes."