Three in four care home workers say staffing pressures will worsen due to mandatory vaccines

Nearly three-quarters of care home staff believe staffing pressures in their care homes will deteriorate further as a direct result of the government’s requirement for staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to new research.

The new data from carehome.co.uk, the UK’s leading care home reviews site, also revealed that London and Northern Ireland have the highest rate of care home workers who haven’t received any Covid vaccine.

The survey of over 7,000 care home staff reveals the differences in UK’s regions of care home workers who haven’t received any Covid vaccine, with London topping the list at 21 per cent.

The North East reported the lowest rate of staff who are yet to be vaccinated, at 10 per cent, with 82 per cent double vaccinated and the remaining 8 per cent single jabbed.

The findings come after the deadline for care home workers to have received their first vaccine, with government analysts predicting that around 40,000 staff will lose their jobs due to refusing a jab.

In July, the government announced that from 11 November, everyone working in a care home in England will have to be vaccinated. In order to be fully protected by this date, all staff have to have had two doses by 16 September.

A spokesperson for carehome.co.uk, said: “Care homes have been on the front line against COVID-19 and are still coping with the fallout. These findings suggest the vast majority of care home workers fear mandatory vaccines will have a negative effect on staffing levels, adding to their struggle to recover from the pandemic.

“The government must provide care homes with the crucial support they need to ensure they can retain and attract more workers into the sector. The industry is already in the grip of a recruitment crisis and the mandatory policy threatens to exacerbate this, posing severe risks to the health and wellbeing of both residents and staff.”

Fifth of those not vaccinated worried it could affect fertility

The survey also found the reasons for care workers not wanting to have the vaccine, with just over a fifth worried it could affect fertility, 28 per cent having no confidence in the vaccination, 32 per cent seeing vaccination as a health risk and 40 per cent worried about the vaccine causing side effects.

The spokesperson for carehome.co.uk added: “Our survey shows there is a lot more work to be done by the government to boost confidence in the vaccine, with fears over fertility and health risks and side effects still high among care home staff refusing the vaccine.”

The survey, which ran from 17– 19 September, found 62 per cent believe colleagues will have to leave their care home because they are against receiving a vaccine, while 18 per cent think the policy will have no effect on staff losses.

Care England, which represents care homes, has been urging the government to change immigration restrictions on low paid foreign workers to address the staffing crisis in the care sector.

It wants the government to include all care workers on the shortage occupation list used to grant visas and reduce the qualifying salary level from £25,600, which is currently required for the recruitment of overseas care workers. The list, as it stands, includes care managers and senior care staff but not lower paid workers in care homes.

Prior to the pandemic starting in 2020, there were 112,000 care vacancies in England with jobs paying £8.50 an hour on average, according to Skills for Care.

The survey ran from 17/09/21 until 19/09/21. Full details of the questions can be found below.

Do you think staffing pressures will now get worse as a direct result of this policy?

Yes – 74%

No – 12%

Don’t know – 14%

How many doses of the vaccine have you received?

Single – 7%

Double – 78%

None – 15%

Regional breakdown:

London: Single – 9.35%, Double – 69.94%, None – 20.72%

North East: Single – 7.92%, Double – 82.18%, None – 9.90%

East England: Single – 6.59%, Double – 78.91%, None – 14.60%

East Midlands: Single – 7.64%, Double – 77.76%, None – 14.60%

West Midlands: Single – 10.16%, Double – 75.63%, None – 14.22%

North West: Single – 5.07%, Double – 78.55%, None – 16.38%

South East: Single – 5.29%, Double – 80.76%, None – 13.95%

South West: Single – 5.84%, Double – 80.39%, None – 13.77%

Yorkshire: Single – 8.06%, Double – 80.39%, None - 11.56%

Northern Ireland – Single – 8.11%, Double – 64.86%, None – 27.03%

Scotland – Single – 5.18%, Double – 79.88%, None – 14.94%

Wales – Single – 3.74%, Double – 85.51%, None – 10.75%

Do you think staff will have to leave your care home because they are against getting the covid vaccine?

Yes – 62%

No – 18%

Don't know – 20%

For those in your care home unhappy to be vaccinated, what have been the main reasons?

This is not an issue - all staff have been vaccinated - 19%

No confidence in the vaccination - 28%

Consider the vaccination to be a health risk – 32%

Worried about side effects – 40%

They don’t consider covid to be a serious risk to their health – 10%

Concerns around fertility – 22%

Difficulty in receiving the vaccination – 1%

Fear of needles – 6%

They refuse medication in general – 5%

Convinced by someone else not to be vaccinated – 6%

Other – 10%

Don't know – 14%

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