Around 82 per cent of the 7,500 people who work at Queen’s and King George hospitals have been jabbed
Front-line NHS staff will be legally required to have had two Covid jabs from Friday, 1 April 2022.
Around 18 per cent of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospital’s NHS Trust’s 7,500 workers are not fully vaccinated.
Staff have been warned they have until Thursday, 3 February to get their first dose. Those that do not could be redeployed or have their contracts terminated.
Chief executive Matthew Trainer has written to his colleagues urging them to get vaccinated “not because it is now a legal requirement, but because it is our best defence as we respond to the pandemic.”
He said: “If you are in scope and have not received your first dose by 3 February, your contract of employment is likely to be terminated.
“Under the legislation, you will be unable to work in NHS trusts, independent hospitals, or in social care – in either clinical roles or in most non-clinical roles.”
At a meeting on Tuesday, he explained a lot of the hesitancy in vaccine uptake is related to women who have concerns about fertility.
Queen’s and King George hospitals are going to work on holding conversations with staff to address those and other concerns.
Matthew Trainer has urged staff to get jabbed (Credit: Matthew Trainer)
The report comes as both sites continue to tackle a rising number of coronavirus cases.
The latest data shows 34 Covid patients died at the two hospitals last week while a further 19 are in critical care.
It also states there are now 221 coronavirus patients, a slight increase on 210 in the previous week.
More than 130 Covid patients recovered and were discharged during that same period.
Staff absence rates also dropped from seven per cent to five per cent. This may be helped further by the the reduction of the self-isolation period for people who test positive for Covid.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has today announced people will be able to leave isolation after five full days if they test negative by then.
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