Fairway Homecare, a company that places carers into healthcare career opportunities, has revealed that just 23 of its team have refused to get the COVID jabs to comply with a new law that comes into effect 11th November 2021, meaning that they will lose their jobs.

With the deadine looming, thousands of carers will lose their jobs because they have chosen not to have the two COVID vaccines that are necessary to help protect vulnerable people against the virus.

However, care specialist Fairway Homecare has revealed that out of the carers on its books, just 23 decided not to have the jabs, which proportionally, is a relatively low number.

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Although this new law was announced by the UK Government in June, it has been a scramble to ensure there are enough carers who are willing to have the two doses of the vaccine.

Fairway Homecare has stated that it has mitigated this potential crisis by ensuring that through its partner, Embark Care Academy, it recruits and trains new carers to the industry who have been double jabbed, so that the health and social care sector does not buckle under the demand.

Operations Director, Alex O’Neill, commented: “It is already essential compliance criteria that all NHS staff who are directly involved in patient care show proof of the vaccinations they’ve had in the past, including tetanus, HEP B, diphtheria, polio and MMR, so in our view, the COVID vaccine is just another one to add to the list.

Alex O'Neill, Operations Director
Alex O’Neill, Operations Director at Fairway Homecare

“When the Government announced this new law, we had to act quickly to ensure that people who relied on our carers would not be negatively impacted.

“We did this by contacting all of the carers we employ, discussing the new law with them and finding out whether they were willing to have the vaccine. Education and positive messaging were essential.

“While the overwhelming response we had was positive, we still had to replace those who didn’t feel comfortable with this new law.

“We naturally couldn’t force any of our employees to take the vaccine, but we did want to talk to them about this law so they were aware, had all of the facts and could make a decision based on all of the information.

“This did mean however, that we had to undertake a recruitment drive, which is still ongoing, to make sure we have enough carers available to replace those we’ve lost and keep up with the needs of our customers.

“73 members of staff joined Fairway in the last quarter, 80 per cent successfully came through the Embark Care Academy, adding 59 fully care certificate, qualified health and social care professionals to our team.

“Adding over 1,000 hours of additional capacity every single week and we are already working on making sure that we’ll have another 120 by the end of the month.

“We work with a fantastic company, Embark Care Academy, which trains new carers for their qualifications, so we can get new recruits through that free programme and into a job in just four weeks.

“Having this training relationship has made us more confident about the situation and that we’ll still be able to provide a high quality and safe service for the people who need our care.”

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https://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/vaccine-1.jpghttps://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/vaccine-1-150x150.jpgLiane McIvorNewsroomNHSReports & ResearchSector Newscare,covid,elderly,Fairway Healthcare,jab,vaccine,vulnerableFairway Homecare, a company that places carers into healthcare career opportunities, has revealed that just 23 of its team have refused to get the COVID jabs to comply with a new law that comes into effect 11th November 2021, meaning that they will lose their jobs. With the deadine looming,...News, views & products for mobility, access and independent living professionals