Covid-19 Response

You are required to have had both COVID 19 Vaccinations to gain entrance into our Care Home with effect from 11th November 2021

From 11 November 2021, it will become law that anyone entering a care home must have had a complete course of an authorised COVID-19 vaccine. For care home staff, this means you will only be able to continue to work inside a care home if you are vaccinated unless you are:

• under the age of 18
• medically exempt

There are other groups of people who may enter the care home and may not have to show that they have been vaccinated.

Individuals that have been vaccinated by the NHS in England may demonstrate their vaccination status using the NHS COVID Pass service via the following 3 routes:

• the NHS App
• the NHS website – NHS.uk
• the NHS COVID Pass letter

An individual’s NHS appointment card cannot be used as proof of vaccination status.

Who needs to provide proof of receiving two COVID 19 vaccinations

• All Staff Colleagues
• Agency Workers
• All Regional Work Colleagues
• All Adult visitors over 18 years
• Public Servants
• Visiting Healthcare Professionals e.g. District Nurses, SALT, Advanced Nurse Practitioners
• Social Care Workers
• Non-care services such as Hairdressing, Maintenance, or Activities.
• Trainers

Who is exempt

• New residents
• Individuals providing emergency assistance and members of the emergency services – Fire, Police, Ambulance
• Individuals providing urgent maintenance assistance
• Friends or Relatives of the resident
• Individuals visiting residents who are dying or offering bereavement support
• Under 18s

It is important that all those entering care homes, including those who are exempt from vaccination, continue to follow infection prevention and control measures, including the correct usage of PPE, to reduce the risk of transmission.

However, these measures are not a substitution for the requirement for individuals to be fully vaccinated, which applies to all persons entering a care home unless exempt.

Individuals entering a care home only need to demonstrate vaccination status on the first occasion they enter or register, and the registered person should record their status on the care home’s local system (for example IT system, paper file and so on)

A risk assessment should be undertaken for those who are exempt from vaccination, to reduce risk of transmission. This might include a change to their duties where such a change is appropriate. It should also be taken into account that those that are exempt from vaccination may also be in the clinically extremely vulnerable category.

From 11 November 2021 registered persons (the person registered with the CQC as a manager or service provider) must ensure that they do not allow anyone to enter the inside of a care home, unless they have had a complete course of doses of an authorised vaccine or fall into one of the exempted groups.

While checks may be undertaken by other members of staff acting under instruction of the registered person, registered persons are ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements and will be monitored by both the commissioners of the service and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).