Question reference: S5W-35864
- Asked by: Gordon Lindhurst, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 9 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 15 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether agency workers in healthcare settings are being prioritised for a COVID-19 vaccination along with NHS employees, and whether it will commit to making the vaccination process for agency staff as simple as possible, without an additional administrative burden.
Answer
To save lives it is essential that vaccination be given to the first priority groups as set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and these include frontline patient-facing health and social care workers. This includes staff who have frequent face-to-face clinical contact with patients and who are directly involved in patient care in either secondary or primary care/community settings, including any associated support staff of independent contractors. It should include those working in public, private, third sector and non-standard healthcare settings such as hospices, and community-based mental health or addiction services. Temporary staff, including those working in the COVID-19 vaccination programme, students, trainees and volunteers who are working with patients must also be included. It should also include staff working at COVID-19 test sites for symptomatic people.
Agency staff who work in the NHS are included in the JCVI priority list, cohort 2. For agency and bank staff, the priority is for staff who are active in taking shifts. Staff who have not worked through agency contract in the NHS in the past 6 months would not fall into this priority group.