The House of Commons has approved with a significant majority proposed regulations to make vaccination mandatory for all staff working in care homes, including visiting GPs.
Announced last month – (16 June) and due to be enforced from October – this will mandate that anyone working in a CQC-registered care home in England must have two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, unless they are medically exempt.
On Tuesday (13 July), MPs approved the regulations by 319 votes to 246, however some MPs – including from Conservative benches – complained that the vote was held before the Department of Health and Social Care had published its impact assessment.
In the consultation outcome document, the (DHSC) said it ‘recognised the calls for an Impact Assessment’ and intended to ‘publish this as soon as it is possible to do so’.
The DHSC has also confirmed it will be launching a further consultation to extend the regulation to other health care staff, with Covid-19 and flu vaccinations becoming a condition of deployment.
A version of this article was first published by Pulse’s sister title Management in Practice
READERS' COMMENTS [1]
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as a locum, does this mean i have to get a “vaccine passport” – and presumably pay for it – from my GP before i can go and see his patients in the nursing home ?!!