Newcastle to lose 452 care home staff with mandatory vaccine rule

Newcastle’s care home workforce is set to be depleted by 452 staff members as the mandatory vaccine rule arrives in November.

After November 11, staff will be excluded from care homes if they are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

NHS England Data analysed by National World has revealed that up to 7% of care home staff in certain areas are still not fully jabbed and at risk of not being allowed to work.

To meet the November deadline, staff members were given until September 16 to get their first dose, given the time needed between a first and second jab.

On average, 95% of care home workers have now had their first jab, with 87% having had two jabs.

That leaves 452 people at risk of not being allowed to work, which breaks down as follows.

Newcastle - 93% have first dose and 85.8% have second with 224 staff no longer able to work.

North Tyneside - 94.2% have first dose and 85.6% have second with 105 staff no longer able to work.

South Tyneside - 96.2% have first dose and 87.4% have second with 51 staff no longer able to work.

Gateshead - 96.8% have first dose and 88.9% have second with 72 staff no longer able to work.

The potential loss of workforce comes at a time when the region’s care home sector is already short staffed.

The 2019-20 vacancy rate in those four areas was 8.6%.

Government guidance states that providers should “explore all options” to redeploy unvaccinated staff elsewhere, but that dismissal will remain an option if this is not possible.

Staff who are medically exempt from being vaccinated are excluded from the November rule.