Around 30,000 unvaccinated care staff will not be allowed to work from today.

[CalamariGames]

www.thesun.co.uk/health/16698590/care-home-staff-lose-job-unvaccinated/

This seems really concerning. I personally am in favour of the vaccination and I think care home staff should be vaccinated but this seems like a massive shortage of staff to compensate for in an industry that is already having difficulty with recruitment. What is the government doing to ensure vulnerable patients are getting the care they need?

@vodkaredbullgirl

Everyone in the care home I work in, (staff and residents) have all had their 3rd jab.

Same here, though we're still short staffed as people have left for other reasons and they can't get replacements, probably because they pay nmw and you pay for your own uniform and DBS and there's jobs in other sectors that pay the same if not more for less responsibility with more attractive shift patterns and benefits (like free uniforms and paid training). The loss of unvaccinated carers is just another problem to add to the many that exist around recruitment and retention in care, but it's all happening at the same time and will likely be what pushes it over the edge.

Yes they have had flu jabs. Why whopping cough or chicken pox?

@vodkaredbullgirl
I didn’t think flu jag was mandatory,

Just wondering if the obsession with others medical decisions was limited to covid19 or …

It's not mandatory for flu jab, yet. We want to try and protect our elderly residents.

@vodkaredbullgirl

It's not mandatory for flu jab, yet. We want to try and protect our elderly residents.

Of course, I like to (stupidly) think all care staff want to protect their service users. However I don’t think that should infringe on their own rights.

The best way to protect is PPE, adequate staffing, adhering to hygiene and cleaning guidelines, access to medical intervention when needed (under staffed/ under funded nhs doesn’t help with this sadly), resources and so on.

I also think care staff getting sick pay, rather than SSP, would stop care staff feeling under financial pressure to go to work with an illness - chest infection/ cold/ viral infection that could also be harmful to the elderly.

Well let's not bother with the vaccine at all then. It'll kill off the elderly before they need a care home. So we won't need care homes at all, so your civil liberties won't be compromised.

The same people moaning that the government didn't do enough are strangely now moaning that they don't want the solution -the only solution, to getting life back to normal.

Get a grip, and get vaccinated. Nobody's stopping care workers going back into care work once they have had their vaccinations.

Maverickess

There's another thread running at the moment about a care home and family concerns about hygiene - that's the real cost of this sector imploding, something that so many choose to ignore in favour of talking about the care workers that haven't been jabbed and what kind of punishment they should face and what kind of people they are - they're gone - when are we going to concentrate on who's left facing the concequences of an industry who's shoestring just snapped?

^^ spot on. Social care is in utter crisis after years of cutbacks and is now underfunded to a frightening degree

@chocolateorangeinhaler

Well let's not bother with the vaccine at all then. It'll kill off the elderly before they need a care home. So we won't need care homes at all, so your civil liberties won't be compromised.

The same people moaning that the government didn't do enough are strangely now moaning that they don't want the solution -the only solution, to getting life back to normal.

Get a grip, and get vaccinated. Nobody's stopping care workers going back into care work once they have had their vaccinations.

If you believe that this vaccine is your route back to getting life 'back to normal' you need to open your eyes.

Vaccine protected people are scared of people who haven't had a vaccine. They don't trust their own vaccine clearly. Living in such fear isn't what I'd call normal.

@Reduceddutiesboredom

“Of course, I like to (stupidly) think all care staff want to protect their service users. However I don’t think that should infringe on their own rights”

How is it that vaccinated staff protect service users?
Vaccination does not prevent infection
It does not prevent transmission
It does protect the vaccinated person from severe disease ( supposedly).
Therefore service users are protected by having the vaccine themselves.

It’s funny how 18months ago carers and NHS staff were clapped as “heroes” for putting themselves at risk of infection from service users/ patients.

Bizzarly, now they are vilified as spreaders of disease despite the likelihood they’ve all had Covid already and are as good as vaccinated.

What short memories the general public has !

@chocolateorangeinhaler

Well let's not bother with the vaccine at all then. It'll kill off the elderly before they need a care home. So we won't need care homes at all, so your civil liberties won't be compromised.

The same people moaning that the government didn't do enough are strangely now moaning that they don't want the solution -the only solution, to getting life back to normal.

Get a grip, and get vaccinated. Nobody's stopping care workers going back into care work once they have had their vaccinations.

Yes, let's get it all back to normal, and make sure society's skivvies are back doing a job that has shit pay and conditions for the level of work and responsibilities taken on, and ignore that the reason the loss of unvaccinated carers is causing a crisis is because it is based on profit and money rather than actually caring for people. It'll all go away I'm sure if you keep telling people to get a grip, that's all that's needed. Nothing to see here.b

So un vaccinated care staff are more dangerous than, no staff.

Poor patients.

Is anyone else just sitting waiting for the first MP to get the call that their elderly relative has been affected by this?

"It’s funny how 18months ago carers and NHS staff were clapped as “heroes” for putting themselves at risk of infection from service users/ patients.

Bizzarly, now they are vilified as spreaders of disease despite the likelihood they’ve all had Covid already and are as good as vaccinated."

Because the Government wanted to put them back in their place and they know most of the general public are thick enough to go along with it and do the same.

There is 3 staff, who have had not had covid (me included)

At least one hospital in France (Mulhouse) had to cancel non-emergency operations after it had to let all the unvaccinated staff go. It couldn’t maintain safe staffing levels.

Ideally I’d like the hospital or care home staff to be vaccinated. But having unvaccinated staff is better than not having staff. And while hospitals can do some things to limit how many patients they have at once (e.g. cancelling non-emergency admissions), a care home can’t suddenly reduce the number of residents.

Vaccination does not prevent infection
It does not prevent transmission

Fucking hell how are people still so uneducated about this.

The vaccine doesn’t completely stop transmission but it does reduce it.

So yes, carers having the vaccine does reduce the risk for the people they work with.

@Amberflames

*Vaccination does not prevent infection It does not prevent transmission*

Fucking hell how are people still so uneducated about this.

The vaccine doesn’t completely stop transmission but it does reduce it.

So yes, carers having the vaccine does reduce the risk for the people they work with.

And of course, if you have the vaccine, you're far less likely to have the Covid to transmit in the first place. The naysayers always seem to miss that bit of the equation out when they start wanging on about transmission.

Fair enough really, plenty of jobs out there at the moment, if they choose not to have the vaccine that's how the cookie crumbles.

Unvaccinated care staff will likely walk into better paid less stressful less responsible jobs, it’s the remaining staff and service users who we need to worry about

And of course, if you have the vaccine, you're far less likely to have the Covid to transmit in the first place.
The naysayers always seem to miss that bit of the equation out when they start wanging on about transmission.

Exactly! That’s the whole reason vaccine passports are a thing. Not because you’re not going to transmit covid if you have it, but because you’re less likely to have it !

Posted this on another thread, reported in the Metro:

David Crabtree, who runs Crabtree Homes, in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, said: ‘My anger is for those who fought so valuably during the start of the pandemic, with thousands of frontline staff dying, to be rewarded with a P45

I am in favour of people being vaccinated, I’m pro-vaccine but I’m against it being forced onto people

One hundred per cent of my staff and residents are vaccinated and we had a outbreak five weeks ago where two people died

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2021/11/12/birmingham-care-home-boss-in-tears-as-she-sacks-six-for-not-being-double-vaccinated-15588805/amp/

Morale in the care sector is at an all time low. Nearly 2 years of working flat out through a pandemic with, initially at least, little to no ppe or testing, covid positive patients being knowlingly discharged into care homes all while that sanctimonious idiot Matt Hancock bleated on and on about his ring of steel around care homes. Unvaccinated carers are not the enemy . If the government was truly worried about the care home residents they would have made it mandatory that all friends and family visiting a resident in a care home had to be vaccinated too not just the staff. The new health minister/secretary stating 'get jabbed or get out' was a step too far for many who are already undervalued overworked and under paid. The whole social care system is in a mess and the government has done a fantastic job of deflecting all the blame for the imminent social care collapse away from itself and instead focusing on the 10% of carers not yet vaccinated. While the public is on its hating unvaccinated carers spree it is not focused on what a mess the care system is in and the massive hand the government has had in its downfall. Carers are leaving in their droves and not just the unvaccinated ones either and they are going to better jobs with less stress, better salaries and better working hours- these carers will most likely never go back to working in care and so the system is relying on new recruits - but who are these new recruits and where will they come from. I work in care and it has been utterly soul destroying these past 2 years . Many new recruits only last 2 weeks before quitting because they cant stand the stress and everything that the job involves for what is a crap salary and even worse work/life balance with 14 hour shifts the norm , especially when they can stack shelves in Lidl for a higher hourly rate . I don't know what the answer is but what I do know is that the least of the problems is the unvaccinated staff ( who wear ppe and are tested daily ). This mass exodus of staff coupled with an already massive amount of vacancies is going to cause the system to implode as there just isn't the staff available to provide the care for the amount of people that need it . These remaining staff are going to become even more overworked and more will end up leaving and the downward spiral is clear for anyone to see .

@Saltyquiche

Unvaccinated care staff will likely walk into better paid less stressful less responsible jobs, it’s the remaining staff and service users who we need to worry about

What jobs are they going to walk into?

I also think care staff getting sick pay, rather than SSP, would stop care staff feeling under financial pressure to go to work with an illness - chest infection/ cold/ viral infection that could also be harmful to the elderly

Which would cost more money which most of the public wouldnt want to pay. I bet there is a correlation with that and people focusing on the vaccine mandate as the answer. I bet they are the same people.

Ricetwisty - What jobs are they going to walk into?

Retail and hospitality are crying out for staff and wages and working conditions and career prospects are better too . The many carers that have left my place of work have all got better paid jobs than before some for Amazon , most in hospitality and supermarkets . Contrary to the opinion of some on here ( not implying you Ricetwisty) we are not all unintelligent dimwits only capable of care work but actually people who have many transferable skills and are flexible enough to adapt to different industry sectors