Covid-19: Swann 'uncomfortable' with vaccination status call

Robin Swann said he did "not intend going down a route" where staff would have to provide vaccination proof

Health Minister Robin Swann has said he would "not be comfortable" with patients being able to ask if health care staff have been vaccinated.

He said the issue had not been discussed within the Department of Health nor raised with him.

Several medical professionals have argued in favour of the move.

Mr Swann said he did "not intend going down a route" where healthcare staff would have to provide proof of vaccination before treating patients.

"It's not something I was aware of... and not something I've definitely made a decision on," he told Stormont assembly members.

'Moral and social responsibility'

Earlier, the Northern Ireland chair of the British Medical Association (BMA), Dr Tom Black, said patients should be reassured that the nurse or doctor who is treating them has been fully vaccinated.

"The position of the BMA is that we would have an expectation that staff dealing with patients would be doubly vaccinated," he told BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show.

"I think they have a right to know, and a right to expect that those staff that are treating them are vaccinated."

Dr Seamus O'Reilly, the medical director for the Northern Trust, said he agreed as healthcare staff "have a moral and social responsibility to ensure that when we're treating our patients we protect them from any infections".

"We're expected to have Hepatitis B vaccinations to protect patients from Hepatitis, I see no difference with Covid - that our staff who are treating patients at the front line should have their Covid vaccination."

Dr O'Reilly added that he was not "necessarily sure whether mandating Covid vaccinations is the way forward but it may be something we need to consider".

'More enforcement' on face coverings

The health minister also defended the executive's decision to maintain compulsory use of face coverings in some settings over autumn/winter.

They remain mandatory on public transport and in certain indoors settings such as when people are moving around hospitality venues.

Mr Swann said he would like to see "more enforcement" of their use.

But added: "That power does not lie with us, we rely on other departments, local government and the PSNI to have those conversations."

He said the use of face coverings remained a "critical tool" in the executive's response in managing coronavirus.