The Scottish government has said it has no plans to make vaccinations mandatory after reports today that the UK government is set to announce covid vaccinations are to become compulsory for all staff in care homes for older people in England.

According to the Guardian, under new regulations staff south of the border will have 16 weeks to get vaccinated or risk either being moved away from a patient-facing role or losing their job.

Employment law is a reserved matter with Westminster legislating for the whole of the UK. However, employee terms and conditions are set locally. It is unclear how the UK government intends to approach making vaccination compulsory.

A Scottish government spokesperson told healthandcare.scot: “Vaccination remains critical in the fight against covid-19 and health and social care workers have been among those prioritised for the vaccine, with the overwhelming majority taking it up.

“The response from care home staff in Scotland to the call to take up their vaccinations has been fantastic. Uptake has been exceptionally high, and the total number of staff who have had both doses of the vaccine actually exceeds the originally projected cohort.

“…We currently have no plans to make vaccinations mandatory for health and social care staff as it’s clear that these caring staff in Scotland are overwhelmingly making the choice to be vaccinated to protect themselves and their residents. We will continue to keep this position under review.”

Vaccination data published on Tuesday by Public Health Scotland shows 50,380 care home staff have been fully vaccinated – a number higher than originally predicted.

One of the country’s largest trade unions, UNISON Scotland, has said that forcing social care staff to get vaccinated will only worsen ‘dire’ staff shortages in the sector.

Asked about the prospect of a similar move in Scotland to that reported to be under consideration for England, a spokesperson for UNISON Scotland said:

“Vaccinations are the way out of this pandemic, but forcing staff to get jabbed is counter-productive.

“In Scotland, there is an agreement in place between the STUC and the Scottish Government that vaccinations will be voluntary, and that take-up should be encouraged by reassuring and educating people on the benefits of vaccination.

“The care sector is facing huge staff shortages. This already dire situation will only get worse if employees feel coerced and unsupported.”

Scottish Care, the body representing independent care providers in Scotland, says such a mandate from the UK government has “little relevance” for Scotland where efforts have been ploughed into encouraging voluntary participation in the vaccine programme and virtually all staff have now been vaccinated.

A spokesperson said: “The Scottish approach to date has been one of close partnership working between the sector, the NHS and the Scottish government.

“We have sought to develop a policy and practice of information and encouragement rather than mandating and instructing.

“…We have found that answering questions honestly where there are concerns, getting trusted voices to communicate the importance of the message for the staff member’s own safety and that of residents, encouraging peer support and taking the vaccines to care homes have all helped to both remove barriers and reduce reticence.”

Read more: Pharmacy covid testing goes live; Report warns against silo approach to vaccination; Unpaid carers urged to sign up for vaccine

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