My Lords, I echo the words of my noble friend the Minister in introducing the regulations before us in praising the heroic efforts of the whole health service: the volunteers, nurses, doctors and pharmacists—everyone involved. The vaccination programme is essential, but I hope
that GPs and practitioners will have the vaccines in time to roll them out. My noble friend is aware of my work with the Dispensing Doctors’ Association.
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I want to focus on two particular aspects: the implications for the workforce of the regulations before us and the helpful questions and comments posed by the 21st report of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in that regard. What has the impact been on the care home workforce of the compulsory vaccinations that the regulations require? I presume that the reports were accurate that a number of those who did not wish to have vaccinations left care homes to go and work in the NHS, which is now the subject of these regulations. Is that the case, and how many were involved in that regard?
I share the concern that has been expressed by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in its report that non-care-home staff who are not in face-to-face contact with patients are exempt from the compulsory vaccinations, despite the fact that SAGE—which of course advises the Government closely on these issues—suggests that co-workers may be an important factor in transmission. I yield to no one in my admiration for my noble friend Lord Cormack in the work that he has done to ensure that care home staff are vaccinated, but it is a case of whether we should look at the wider helpers of those working in care homes.
Lastly, I have a question that follows on from a question at Oral Questions today on the retention, as well as the recruitment, of the workforce. I do not know whether I am reading paragraph 1.37 on page 63 of the impact assessment correctly, but it says:
“Given uncertainty in how provides”—
I presume that is meant to read “providers”—
“will respond to workforce shortages we have made simplifying assumption that replacement staff are available immediately from wider labour market and used band 5 wages as a proxy for all staff affected by this”.
What is the current recruitment and retention in care homes in particular, as so many in your Lordships’ House have raised concerns in that regard?