Hertfordshire County Council have stated that staff shortages in the county’s care homes are possible after it was revealed that hundreds of workers have recently quit.
In the week leading up to November 11, the deadline for all care home employees to be vaccinated with the COVID jab, 297 people opted to leave their jobs.
Under the new mandate, all staff must have had two doses of the vaccination to continuing working, except those medically exempt.
The new rule has also left 200 workers having to be redeployed whilst they await their second jab.
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: ““97% of health and social care workers in Hertfordshire working in CQC registered residential and nursing care settings are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and we expect that number to rise as more staff are receiving their second jab this week.
“Where staff are still waiting to receive their second dose, we have worked with providers to redeploy them into non-care roles until they can legally provide this support to residents, and with local agencies to make sure fully qualified, temporary staff are available to support them in the interim.
“Since 16 September, the date when staff needed to get their first jab to meet the deadline, 297 people who had previously worked in residential or nursing care have decided to leave the health and social care sector.
“While we believe some of these are leaving because of the new vaccination requirement, this number also includes people who have left for other reasons.
“The wellbeing of people receiving care is our priority and where we know there may be staff shortages in residential or nursing homes, we have worked with local agencies to make sure that staff are deployed in a timely way so that the quality and continuity of care is not disrupted.”
The council is also encouraging people to think about joining the care service, which they can do by applying online at www.hertsgoodcare.com.
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