A London hospital is set to lose more than 1,000 members of staff if they refuse to be vaccinated against Covid in the upcoming weeks, its ‘worried’ chief executive has said.
Dr Clive Kay, head of King’s College Hospital, admitted his “worry” and said that “at an extreme position”, more than 1,000 members of staff could be lost – as around 10% of workers at the hospital are yet to be jabbed.
Sophie Raworth on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show asked Dr Kay whether he was concerned, to which he replied: “Yes, of course.”
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He added: “I think my job is to worry – my job is to worry about everything in relation to whether or not we have enough staff here to provide care for patients and will continue to do so – and we will provide care for patients but ultimately if individuals choose not to [it’s] their choice.”
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Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed in November that it would become compulsory for frontline NHS staff in England to be fully vaccinated against Covid, setting the deadline for early April.
At the time of Mr Javid’s announcement, he said that 103,000 NHS workers remained unjabbed – although adding that 90% were fully vaccinated, which was higher than the general working-age population by nine percentage points.
The hospital head explained that senior staff were ramping up measures to encourage the workforce to get vaccinated as the deadline for hospital staff to receive a first dose or risk losing their job approaches.
“We’re having conversations with staff, their line managers are having conversations, we have a helpline where colleagues seek clarification and help,” he said.
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https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/london-covid-hospital-could-lose-22691885
