1,000 unvaccinated Derbyshire NHS staff are set to lose their jobs in two weeks

There is a February 3 deadline for employees to have had one jab.

Anyone who has not had a jab by that date is set to be dismissed, if there is not a role away from patients which they cannot be moved to.

New figures directly from our trusts show 1,098 Derbyshire NHS staff are unvaccinated as of this week.

Previous figures, from NHS England, were only up until December 31, and had shown 1,040 Derbyshire NHS staff were unvaccinated.

This figure has now increased overall but it is only the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust which has seen a rise in unvaccinated staff.

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Our trusts say the figures change due to a number of new starters and due to some staff contracting the virus and as such being temporarily ineligible for vaccination.

Here is how those 1,098 unvaccinated NHS staff break down by trust:

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust – 687 (4.4 per cent of total staff numbers)

Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – 204 (4 per cent)

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (which runs mental health services) – 103 (3.2 per cent)

Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust (which largely focusses on care in people’s homes) – 103 (1.9 per cent)

Overall this means that 3.71 per cent of Derbyshire NHS staff are unvaccinated, with the vast majority having had both jabs and a booster vaccine.

Alongside the deadline to get an initial jab, the ultimate deadline is for NHS staff to be fully vaccinated with two doses by April 1. Staff who are not fully vaccinated by that point would also lose their jobs.

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As it stands, this would include a further 840 Derbyshire NHS staff (who have only had one jab) – totalling 1,938 overall who are not fully vaccinated.

Staff who do not have their first vaccine by February 3 would not have sufficient time to get their second dose by April 1, due to the required gap between jabs.

Overall, the vast majority of our Derbyshire NHS organisations have been vaccinated against Covid-19, including with booster jabs.

A total of 96.3 per cent Derbyshire NHS staff have had one Covid vaccine, 94.6 have had two jab doses and 86.4 per cent have had a booster.

For context, figures for Derbyshire residents show 87.6 per cent of eligible residents have had one vaccine dose, 82.5 per cent have had two doses and 66.7 per cent have had a booster.

The Government’s risk assessment over mandatory jabs, published in November, estimated that it could lead to the loss of 73,000 staff in a service that in England already has 93,000 vacancies.

NHS bosses recently warned that that could make it unsafe and unviable to run entire units of hospitals, especially maternity units.

Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, said he would “hate” to have to lose staff because he legally cannot continue to employ them due to their vaccination status.