Government plans to make Covid vaccination a condition of social care staff deployment in older adult care homes must be backed up by central support, according to trade association Care England.
In its response to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) consultation that closes today, the largest representative body of independent adult social care providers sought to examine both sides of the argument for mandatory vaccination while examining the issues associated with bringing forward regulation.
“If regulation is the vehicle of choice, it is essential for the issues associated with mandating the vaccine for adult social care staff to be comprehensively addressed prior to its introduction,” said chief executive Martin Green (pictured).
“There must be central guidance, funding and leadership in helping to support adult social care providers in implementing the regulation. In other words, there must be appropriate infrastructure support,” he added.
Care England meanwhile raised concern with the consultation process itself: the consultation period was only five weeks, as opposed to the typical 12-week period.
In addition, it said the consultation clashed with the pre-election period of sensitivity and was predominantly confined to a multiple-choice template with limited space for expressing meaningful feedback.
