Communal welfare providers are losing staff as the deadline nears for the mandatory requirement for those working in a Care Quality Commission-registered home in England to be fully vaccinated, unless they have a medical exemption.

Care home bosses have questioned why the new rule, which comes into effect next Thursday, does not also apply to the NHS, leaving an uneven playing field.

Jewish Care is losing 30 staff, although the charity points out that this is across ten homes. “We are fortunate that our staff do overtime so we are able to back-fill in that sense, or by using regular agency staff that are well known to us.”

Norwood reports that it has put five staff on notice but anticipates that “up to a further seven will be given notice before the November 11 deadline. We thankfully did have a fairly high baseline vaccine take-up rate pre-legislation, thanks to our comprehensive educational programme among front-line staff,” a spokesperson explained.

The government’s decision had put additional pressure on the charity’s services, “which are struggling with staffing shortages that are widespread across the sector.

“Furthermore, the impact on operational teams to oversee the logistics of holding discussions with unvaccinated members of staff [to establish if they were willing to be vaccinated] has been both time consuming and a distraction from already stretched services.”

At Nightingale Hammerson, which operates homes in Hampstead and Clapham, CEO Helen Simmons said that since the outset of the pandemic, the charity had been committed “to ensuring that our residents are always as safe and protected as possible. That has meant that by the time it becomes law, we will have lost a few staff for refusal to comply with regulations. But it is a very small number and is a requirement we are fully in agreement with.

“The bigger question is why the NHS now appears to be sending mixed messages about whether it will follow suit.”

Ms Simmons’ view is shared by Mark Cunningham, CEO of The Fed in Manchester and chair of the National Association of Jewish Homes (NAJH).

Mr Cunningham said that in general, providers were “disappointed by the fact that there wasn’t a level playing field with the NHS. This has caused an unnecessary loss of staff at a critical time for the care industry.”

In terms of double vaccinated employees, The Fed had “pretty much mitigated the risk of losing a significant number of staff. Our engagement with our workforce on vaccinations has been ongoing since the beginning of the year.

“We recognised the issues posed by mandatory vaccinations and have worked extremely hard to engage with people, provide information and advice and make them aware of the consequences regarding their employment.

“Over the last two months, we have seen three to four staff migrate away to jobs within the NHS, where the vaccine isn’t mandatory for now. By November 11, we will only have four [additional] staff who will lose their employment — less than 1 per cent of our workforce.

“I think like most care providers, we are massively preoccupied with workforce issues at present. Recruitment of staff is extremely challenging, not just in terms of care staff and nurses but in housekeeping, hospitality, catering and facilities management. As other industries, particularly hospitality and retail, gear up for Xmas, recruitment is very competitive. The baseline salaries offered in other sectors have increased dramatically but our wage bills are largely funded by the rates set by local authorities and the NHS and we struggle to compete.”

Although Mr Cunningham did not have a clear picture of the overall situation within the NAJH, he said “all members have been working hard to reduce the impact of losing staff due to mandatory vaccinations and have had a reasonable amount of success”.