Keeping Well BLMK is here to help health and social care staff who may need emotional or psychological support in relation to vaccination as a condition of deployment (VCOD).

 

Please contact us if you have any concerns

If you or a member of your team are experiencing anxiety or difficulties with mood in relation to any of the issues raised by VCOD then please do get in touch with us.  You can contact us via:

 

Support with needle phobia

The fear of needles is very common and is something that can be managed with help. Watch this short video in which Glory, an Assistant Psychologist at Keeping Well, explains needle phobia and treatment.

Visit our needle phobia self-help resource page for more advice. Such as this five step technique:

  1. Sit down somewhere you are comfortable
  2. Tense the muscles in your arms, upper body and legs and hold this tension for about 10-15 seconds, or until you start to feel the warmth rising in your face
  3. Release the tension and go back to your normal sitting position
  4. After about 20-30 seconds go through the tension procedure, again until you feel the warmth in your face
  5. Repeat this procedure so that you have practised the tension five times

Daily vaccine confidence sessions hosted by clinical professionals

NHS England and NHS Improvement are running daily drop-in vaccine confidence Q&A sessions from Wednesday 26 January 2022 to Thursday 3 February 2022. These sessions are for all staff to attend and offer an opportunity to ask any specific questions you might have regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

Dates and themes are:

  • Wednesday 26 January: 12pm to 1pm - Primary Care
  • Thursday 27 January: 3pm to 4pm - Vaccines and Fertility
  • Friday 28 January: 10am to 11am - Vaccines and the Science
  • Saturday 29 January: 7pm to 8pm - Vaccines and Your Faith
  • Sunday 30 January: 7pm - 8pm - Vaccines and Your Faith
  • Monday 31 January: 12pm to 1pm - Vaccines for Nursing and Midwifery Staff
  • Tuesday 1 February: 1pm to 2pm - Vaccines and Fertility
  • Wednesday 2 February: 12pm to 1pm - Vaccines for Healthcare Students
  • Thursday 3 February: 4pm to 5pm - Vaccines and the Science

To register, go to https://www.events.england.nhs.uk/events/staff-vaccination-daily-q-and-a

Engaging and communicating with staff around vaccination uptake 

NHS England and NHS Improvement has curated resources to aid 1:1 conversations around staff vaccine hesitancy. For further information on how to have a 1:1 conversation to support vaccine uptake, please see the ‘Guidance to support COVID-19 vaccine uptake in frontline staff’.

Visit the NHS England website for further toolkits and resources that include:

  • Breastfeeding, fertility and pregnancy
  • Ethnic minority communities
  • General resources for specific target groups

The UK Parliament passed legislation that means all staff who work in health and social care settings regulated by the Care Quality Commission will have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by 1 April 2022. Fully vaccinated means having had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The new rules apply to staff across secondary and primary care services in both the public and independent sectors. Staff with some officially approved exemptions may continue to be deployed without being vaccinated. Further details are available on the Gov.UK website. If you are still unsure of whether you are exempt or not, please seek advice from your employer and Trust intranet pages for further information.

 

Timetable for implementation

  • 3 February 2022: last day to get the first vaccine dose
  • 31 March 2022: last day to get the second vaccine dose

NHS England have produced a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) leaflet you can read here for more information.

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