Three quarters of Cambridgeshire care homes back Government proposals to insist on compulsory vaccination for all staff.

Across Cambridgeshire, there are 129 CQC registered care homes, with approximately 5,500 staff and 3,660 residents.

Estimates show that 85 per cent of care homes in Cambridgeshire have reached the 80 per cent threshold for staff receiving the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

And 93 per cent of care homes in Cambridgeshire have reached the 90 per cent threshold for residents receiving the first dose.

From November 11 anyone working or volunteering in a care home will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, unless exempt.

It means all workers employed directly by the care home, those employed by an agency and deployed by the care home, and volunteers must be vaccinated.

And those going into care homes such as social workers, tradespeople, hairdressers and beauticians, and even CQC inspectors will also have to follow the new regulations, unless they are exempt.

A report to the adults and health care committee of the county council warns the new rules “will have significant impacts”.

Charlotte Black, director of adults and safeguarding, Will Patten, director of commissioning and Jyoti Atri, director of public health, outlined their fears in a joint report.

They say they sought feedback from all CQC registered care home providers across Cambridgeshire on the implications of mandatory vaccination for their staff through an online survey.

“We received 45 responses, a 31 per cent response rate representing 2,524 beds and 3,350 staff across Cambridgeshire,” says their report.

Of these 42 per cent were from small providers (less than 50 beds).

The results from the survey were that 73 per cent thought mandatory vaccinations were a good thing.

However, 55 per cent thought it would have a significant impact on their business.

Main concerns, says the report, were loss of workforce, monitoring, and morale.

Two providers said that they had already implemented compulsory vaccinations for staff and most staff were happy to receive the vaccine.

The survey also identified key areas of support that providers felt they would need including help with recruitment, accessible local vaccination provision and better information on vaccinations to support staff education.