A message from the Trade Union: Vaccination status

January 21, 2022

Staff may have been sent letters from the Trust requesting them to share their vaccination status via the COVID pass app, this has been to staff because their vaccination status has not been available to the trust to date.

Trade Unions encourage that staff share the information requested if they have already been vaccinated via the covid pass app as per the letter advises because this will become a condition of deployment to have the vaccinations unless you are exempt. If you are not vaccinated and don’t have a valid NHS covid pass for medical exemption or a temporary exemption pass and you think you may be eligible, the exemption criteria and application process can be located on the following link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-medical-exemptions-proving-you-are-unable-to-get-vaccinated

You may also be exempt if you are under 18 years old, or are participating in COVID vaccination trials.

Agreed appointed managers have been asked by the Trust to offer meetings to staff to clarify their vaccination status and intentions to uptake this if they have not already had it. Managers are being asked to offer these meetings to provide support regarding potential vaccination concerns and informing staff if they will be in scope as workers who have face-to-face contact with patients and/or service users and who are deployed as part of CQC regulated activity. Some examples of scoping as regards to face to face contact with patients who are deployed in CQC regulated activities can be found in appendix 2 towards the end of this document in this link. C1470-vcod-for-healthcare-workers-planning-and-preparation-guidance.pdf (england.nhs.uk)

Trade Unions would recommend that you attend the meetings with the manager, and if it is unclear or you have concerns about you being included in the scope please contact your Trade Union reps, who may be able to advise on this matter. If you are not a member of a trade union you can talk to staff side convenor and deputy about the process contacting them via the email address below. Please note that they won’t be able to give advice on your individual circumstances.

Contact details or Trade Union Representatives can be found on this link: https://connect2.swbh.nhs.uk/trade-unions/ or alternatively contact the staff side confidential email swbh.unioncollective@nhs.net with a brief summary so we can support you as best as possible.

We advise you to have your membership details available such as you name and membership number in readiness so the relevant trade union can provide advice.

We appreciate that this is a difficult time for many staff and we hope to respond to you quickly, but due to COVID related work priorities there may be a short delay, for which we apologise for.