Government ministers are said to be meeting later today to decide whether or not to scrap mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for NHS staff in England.
According to reports, it’s thought that around 77,000 NHS staff in England are currently unvaccinated, but, as announced last November, all frontline workers must be fully-vaccinated by 1 April, meaning they need a first dose by Thursday, and if they are not jabbed by that date, they will be redeployed or dismissed.
Yet, Health Secretary Sajid Javid has been under growing pressure to scrap the rule.
After there have been significant concerns that the sector could be left with a massive staffing crisis due to the number of workers refusing to be vaccinated, the Health Secretary said last week that the jabs requirement was being “kept under review”.
Although he said that he believes it’s the “professional duty” of NHS staff to get vaccinated, Mr Javid told the Health and Social Care Select Committee last Tuesday that, when the mandatory vaccination policy was announced, the dominant COVID variant was Delta, and it was right to “reflect” now Omicron was dominant.
It is understood that no final decisions have been made as of yet, but the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday that Mr Javid will meet ministers on the COVID operations cabinet committee today, where he is expected to confirm the U-turn.
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🔴 U-turn on mandatory Covid vaccinations for NHS and social care workershttps://t.co/Fuyu1NwY0M
The newspaper said the government is ending the policy because Omicron is milder than previous variants of the virus.
These recent reports that the government ministers are meeting today comes just a week after the Department Of Health And Social Care said there were no plans to change the policy as it was “the right thing to do to protect patients”, despite previous reports suggesting ministers were considering a delay in its implementation.
Government ministers will meet to decide whether to scrap mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for NHS staff in England / Credit: Flickr
The UK Health Security Agency says vaccines have proven to be effective against hospitalisation, mortality, infection and transmission.
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But both the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had urged for the deadline of mandatory vaccination to be postponed and the British Medical Association called for an “urgent impact assessment” on how the policy would affect staffing numbers.
Patricia Marquis – Director of RCN in England – said: “If these reports are correct, this climbdown by government is long overdue.
“Vaccination is hugely important but this was the wrong policy, especially as it added to the current pressure on NHS and care services, and it was never in the interests of patient safety to threaten tens of thousands with dismissal in the middle of staffing crisis.
“We will continue to support government and employers to make the case for vaccination.”
Featured Image – Flickr
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Government to begin giving millions of UK workers ‘significant’ pay rises from this week
Emily Sergeant
The Government is to begin giving more than three million workers across the UK a ‘significant pay boost’ from this week.
Announced as part of last year’s Budget, and in a bid to ‘put thousands of pounds back in the pockets of working people every year’, the Government confirmed back at the beginning of February that a new National Living Wage of £12.21 per hour, and a new National Minimum Wage of £10 per hour would take effect from April onwards.
Ministers said the 6.7% increase to the National Living Wage – which is now worth £1,400 a year for an eligible full-time worker – is a ‘significant step’ towards delivering the manifesto commitment to deliver a ‘genuine’ living wage.
Today, millions of working people will get a pay rise as the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage increase.
New rates:
🔹 from £11.44 to £12.21 if you’re 21 and over 🔹 from £8.60 to £10.00 if you’re 18-20 🔹 from £6.40 to £7.55 if you’re under 18 or an apprentice
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) April 1, 2025
On top of this, the National Minimum Wage for 18-20-year-olds is also set to go up by a record increase of £1.40 an hour, which means full-time younger workers eligible for the rate will see their pay boosted by £2,500 a year.
The minimum wage pay boot has also been called the first step towards removing the ‘unfair’ age-bands that see a 21-year-old getting paid more than a 20-year-old for doing the same job.
According to the Government, this is also the first time the National Living Wage has taken into account the cost of living and inflation.
Three million UK workers will be getting a ‘significant’ pay rise from this week / Credit: Pexels
“In the last Parliament, living standards were the worst on record and sky-high inflation was crushing working people’s finances,” commented Chancellor Rachel Reeves, explaining why the pay boosts are being introduced.
“Making work pay is good for workers, will strengthen businesses’ workforces, and will grow our economy for years to come.
“It’s a key milestone on my number one mission to get more money in people’s pockets as we deliver our Plan for Change.”
Not only that, but the minimum hourly wage for an apprentice is also set to be boosted later this year too, with an 18-year-old apprentice seeing their minimum hourly pay increase by 18% to £7.55 an hour.
As a result of these particular changes, a further four million workers also could benefit from the positive spill-over impacts of the rate increases.
Featured Image –
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The Manc -
31st January 2022 
