The Council has responded to the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation on making vaccination a condition of employment in the health and wider social care sector. This examines a proposal to to extend the existing statutory requirement for those working or volunteering in a car home to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to other health and care settings, as a condition of deployment.
The Council highlighted concerns with the potential impacts of the mandate as well as the implementation of the mandate and provided several recommendations:
- Government awareness of the challenges facing HEIs in mandating vaccinations and support for implementation, particularly in address unvaccinated students unable to progress on programmes
- Clear communication and guidance to HEIs including legal clarification in the cases of students unable to progress due to unvaccinated status who could claim their contract has been breached
- Timely decision making to allow for smooth implementation as well as ongoing engagement to address any issues that arise