Vaccinations play a vital role in protecting patients, healthcare workers and the wider public and while every effort should be made to increase uptake, we have always proposed that they should remain a voluntary option, with efforts to increase uptake focused on education and support.
We are therefore pleased that the Government has announced a consultation on reversing their policy of vaccination as a condition of deployment in NHS settings in England, which would have led to a loss in workforce affecting the accessibility of healthcare services at a time when additional capacity is so much needed by patients.