Influenza: Vaccination

(asked on 19th November 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to impose a statutory obligation on the employers of home care workers to provide free influenza vaccinations to their home care employees.


Answered by
 Portrait
Jane Ellison
This question was answered on 26th November 2014

We have no plans to mandate the provision of the annual flu vaccination.

Frontline health and social care workers have a duty of care to protect their patients and service users, colleagues and family members from infection. Therefore, as in previous years, free flu immunisation should be offered by National Health Service organisations to all employees directly involved in delivering care. This is not an NHS service, but an occupational health responsibility being provided to NHS staff by employers. Social care providers and independent primary care providers should also consider vaccination of staff.

The Health and Social Care Act 2008, Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance, emphasises the need to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that care workers are free of and are protected from exposure to infections that can be caught at work and that all staff are suitably educated in the prevention and control of infection associated with the provision of health and social care.

The Code of Practice states that registered providers should ensure that policies and procedures are in place in relation to the prevention and control of infection. This includes access to occupational health services and that employers should make vaccine available free of charge to employees if a risk assessment indicates that it is needed.

A copy of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, Code of Practice is attached.

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