COVID Update 28 - Vaccination Update and Annual Leave Guidance COVID-19 Update 28Vaccination Update and Annual Leave GuidanceIntroduction I’m sure the festive period is not going to be normal for any of us this year. We are all going to have to make some painful decisions about what we will not do over the coming weeks. Despite Lockdown 2 easing to the Tier system, rates of COVID-19 infection remain high. Your safety and that of your families and our service users remains our paramount concern and in that respect I would urge all colleagues to be cautious over the festive period. Personally, I won’t be sad to see the end of 2020, but I do believe we have a huge amount to be positive about moving into 2021! We have a clinically approved vaccine for COVID-19 already being distributed to staff. It is fantastic to hear stories from our staff who are at the highest risk, that they have already been called and/or received their first dose of the vaccine. The pace of roll out will increase and we will not forget anyone over the coming months as we work to vaccinate all our staff groups. You may also have seen the news that despite the significant distraction with COVID-19 this year, we have managed to secure big investment into our mental health services over the next few years – both in terms of expansion of our services and modernising our buildings. This is truly exciting and I’m really looking forward to working with teams in 2021 to ensure this money is well spent and to the maximum benefit of our service users. I’m particularly excited about the ring fenced money that will be going into our adult community teams – an area we have long argued needed additional resourcing. Today I wish to update you on two key issues:
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and thank you once again for the amazing job you have all done in 2020. You should all be extremely proud of your achievements and raise a glass over Christmas to a job well done. With best wishes, Jonathan Vaccination Update Following the recent MHRA approval of the Pfizer/ BioNTech COVID vaccine, access remains limited due to the national logistical and supply chain challenges. We are therefore offering the vaccine to the most at risk staff first. In line with Public Health England advice, frontline health and social care workers at high risk of acquiring infection, at high individual risk of developing serious disease, or at risk of transmitting infection to multiple vulnerable persons or other staff in a healthcare environment, are considered of higher priority for vaccination than those at lower risk. We are also prioritising staff depending on their individual COVID risk assessment score to ensure that those with the highest need are offered the vaccine as soon as possible. If you feel that your individual risk has changed since your risk assessment was last reviewed please discuss this with your line manager as soon as possible. As additional vaccine supply becomes available, all other staff will be offered the vaccine as per the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommendations For further information please refer to the Public Health England NHS COVID-19 Vaccination Programme FAQ’s and First Phase Priority Groups. Annual leave guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic – Update 20/21 – 21/22 Leave Year Taking regular annual leave is an important factor in supporting staff health and wellbeing. The NHS Staff Council and NHS Employers have issued guidance to consider the management of annual leave ensuring a fair approach which recognises the need for flexibility to support the health and wellbeing of staff, whilst maintaining safe and effective staffing levels. Wherever possible, prioritisation in allocation of leave should be given to staff who have:
This is to ensure that they can rest and recover from their extended periods of work. Staff should be encouraged to plan and book a certain amount of their annual leave within a reasonable agreed timeframe, e.g. each quarter, to ensure that they have regular rest opportunities. However, we recognise this has been an exceptional year and this has simply not been possible for many of our staff. In normal circumstances carry-over of annual leave would be by exception. However, where employees cannot use their full entitlement of annual leave because of the pandemic, new temporary statutory rules introduced by the government to deal with COVID-19 pressures mean that all our staff can carry over up to 20 days (pro-rated for part-time staff) of annual leave over a two year period. If you require further advice with regards to this matter please contact the HR Operations Team. humanresources@combined.nhs.uk |