Sacking unvaccinated hospital staff will lead to local NHS crisis, MP tells minister

On the floor of the House of Commons this morning, South Lakes MP Tim Farron warned ministers that plans to sack staff who aren't vaccinated will lead to a crisis in local hospitals.

Speaking during Health Questions, Tim said: "Undoubtedly, additional vaccine sites in rural communities will increase vaccine uptake, which is vital.

"Would the minister agree with me though that when it comes to NHS staff, counselling and one-to-one conversations are far more effective and far more right than to do what the Government is currently planning and sack potentially 5% of hospital staff in the Morecambe Bay region and indeed across the country for those who haven't been vaccinated and cause a serious problem when it comes to capacity within the NHS?"

Responding, the Minister for Vaccine Deployment Maggie Throup said: "I would like to reassure the honourable gentleman that what we're talking about is patient safety and he's quite right to say that it's important to have that dialogue. I know that colleagues within the NHS are having that dialogue across the board.

"But it's also interesting to note that over 94% of NHS staff have had their vaccine and I commend them for that. But as the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty rightly said 'people who are looking after people who are very vulnerable do have a professional responsibility to get vaccinated'."