Government reforms (3):  Guidance on mandatory vaccinations for care home staff

What do we already know?

We updated you in our July 2021 Newsletter Government reforms (2): Coronavirus (Covid-19): Mandatory vaccinations for care home staff that the Government announced that from October 2021 anyone working in a registered care home providing nursing or personal care would need to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated with both doses.

What’s new?

The Government has published its guidance on mandatory vaccinations for care home staff (available here).  The guidance is aimed at service providers, registered persons, local authorities, workers, professionals and tradespeople entering care homes, and residents of care homes regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that provide accommodation for those requiring nursing.

All the above groups must be fully vaccinated by 11 November 2021, unless exempt under regulations. This means the last date for workers to get their first dose is 16 September 2021.

The CQC will seek assurance from new and existing care home providers that they have a governance process to monitor vaccination and status of staff, ensure staff maintain an up to date vaccination status, monitor the vaccination status of all those entering care homes, and make reasonable adjustments where necessary.

The CQC may follow up any matters for concern via an on-site inspection, where it will look for evidence of compliance with the new requirements. If there is a breach of the regulations, the CQC will decide what action to take based on proportionality in line with its enforcement policy.