Covid: Small number of unvaccinated NHS staff 'manageable'

Mark Drakeford: "We're not going to make vaccinations mandatory in our NHS"

Care providers in Wales have suggested they could employ unvaccinated workers who have left NHS jobs in England due to its mandatory vaccination policy.

It comes after First Minister Mark Drakeford said he would "not rule out" giving NHS jobs to the unvaccinated.

Vaccines are not compulsory for NHS staff in Wales.

But the Royal College of Nursing Wales (RCN) and Care Forum Wales said they would not actively seek unvaccinated staff to fill vacant posts.

NHS staff in England must have a first jab by 3 February and be fully vaccinated by 1 April to continue in front-line roles.

Helen Whyley, director of RCN Wales, said it was simply about having the best person for the job.

"It's about recruiting staff into vacancies that we've got and actually, the Welsh public deserve gold standard staff for gold standard services," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"I think we should welcome people that want to come and work in Wales, not just from England but from all across the world.

"We've always had a multicultural staff and that gives diversity and richness to the care that's provided.

"I don't think we should go out seeking for people who haven't had vaccines, we should be going out seeking the best staff we could get to come and work in our in our services."

She added: "This virus is a nasty virus. And that's why it's really important to ask for staff to understand why they should take up the vaccine and for patients to be reassured as well."

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Mario Kreft, chairman of Care Forum Wales, said while he "wouldn't be particularly keen" to recruit unvaccinated workers, small numbers may be manageable.

"We now have a very large pool of people with the boosters - our residents in our care homes for example, almost 100% vaccinated," he said.

"So that small number of people now who are not vaccinated do not pose the problem that they did even months ago, let alone 12 months ago or two years ago, when this whole thing started.

"You are trying to balance the safety of your staff, the safety of your residents, and obviously trying to promote to people the importance of vaccination to them and their family."

Geoff Ryall-Harvey, chief officer of North Wales Community Health Council, said Wales' approach of persuading vaccination as opposed to mandating it was the right one.

"It also depends on the role that they would be taking up and the paramount thing is just safety of patients," he said.

"There will be people we want to recruit who have no contact with patients but have desperately-needed skills."

But he added: "Getting vaccinated is the right thing to do if you are working with with vulnerable patients."