Vaccination as Condition of Deployment (VCOD) measures set to be cancelled

Regulations requiring healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated by 1 April should no longer be applied, the Health Secretary Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP announced to Parliament on the evening of 31 January.

Government onsultation was opened between 9 and 16 February, once the Government has considered responses to the consultation it will move for the two statutory instruments covering VCOD in care homes and in other care settings to be nullified, likely before the end of February. This will mean the legislation making VCOD a requirement is removed.

In the meantime, employers have been instructed by NHS England: "This change in Government policy means we request that employers do not serve notice of termination to employees affected by the VCOD regulations."

The Health Secretary also told Parliament that he has written to regulators, NHS England and the CQC to request that they tighten measures and requirements for vaccinations received by staff. His letter has not been published, but the response to it from the GMC and Academy of Royal Medical Colleges is linked to above.

In his statement to MPs on 31 January, Mr Javid said the policy had been right in retrospect, “given the severity of Delta”.

Note: Londonwide LMCs previously issued this guidance on VCOD which was circulated as part of our January newsletter. It is no longer applicable following the announcement of 31 January.

Last updated : 23 Feb 2022

 

Identifying patients living with frailty (23 Oct 2017)

Since July 2017 there has been a new contractual requirement for practices to focus on the identification and management of patients living with frailty. Practices are required to use appropriate...
Read more »

Remember that your practice needs a CQC registered manager (23 Oct 2017)

Remember that Section 33 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 states that it is a legal requirement for practices to have a registered manager with the CQC (Care...
Read more »

New GMS1 form - use now (23 Oct 2017)

All practices should have received new GMS1 forms to use from this month onwards. The new forms include supplementary questions to be completed by overseas...
Read more »

LMC patient engagement project wins award at RCGP conference (19 Oct 2017)

Londonwide LMCs’ Patient Engagement Project (PEP) was launched in July 2016 with a focus on supporting practices in fostering and developing Patient Participation Groups (PPGs). The experiences and views of...
Read more »

Working as a team helps combat workload stress (19 Oct 2017)

Alison Dalal, practice manager at the Paddington Green Health Centre, shares her top tips. As surveys show, working in general practice can be a stressful business and as the workload...
Read more »

Jeremy Hunt pledges ‘state-backed’ indemnity (19 Oct 2017)

Speaking at this month’s Royal College of General Practitioners conference Jeremy Hunt announced he is planning to introduce a state-backed indemnity scheme from April 2019. It will cover all GPs...
Read more »

NHS chief says networking may be answer to working at scale (19 Oct 2017)

NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens told the Health Select Committee earlier this month that “more networked approaches” can also be an answer to working ‘at scale’. This places the NHS...
Read more »

BMA issues advice on premises fees (20 Sep 2017)

As NHS Property Services emails practices with invoices and/or a letter from Mark Day, Chief Financial Officer at Community Health Partnerships the BMA has issued advice to practices. The covering...
Read more »

Future GP workforce plans for London (19 Sep 2017)

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan commissioned The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust to undertake an independent analysis of sustainability and transformation plans (STP) in London.   The full 98...
Read more »
Next Page »
« Previous Page