“If you haven’t been vaccinated, could someone else come and see me please?”

Featured article - 25 February 2021
By Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, General Practitioner Davenal House Surgery Bromsgrove

Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, General Practitioner Davenal House Surgery Bromsgrove

In our surgery in Bromsgrove we are vaccinating at scale and at speed. We have vaccinated our care homes, our patients who access care at home and have run numerous clinics both during the week and at weekends.

Feedback we have had from virtually everyone is that everything is going well. However, some of our patients are asking whether we personally as nurses, doctors and other staff have been vaccinated. This has been partially to given the confidence so that they will go ahead with their injection; I have been able to say to them that I personally I had a mild sore arm for 24 hours but no other side effects.

Not just a Covid-19 vaccination

However, from a professional perspective the General Medical Council gives the following guidance to doctors: “You should be immunised against common serious communicable diseases (unless otherwise contradicted)”. For this reason, the vast majority of clinical staff are tested and immune against Hepatitis B, Rubella and Measles and there is an expectation that we will be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Recently we have noticed patients asking whether we have been vaccinated against COVID-19 for their safety. As one lady said to her care worker: “If you haven’t been vaccinated, could someone else come and see me please?” Members of the public are well-informed about how COVID-19 is transmitted and the effects upon those who are more vulnerable. I expect that patients, clients and those who pay for services will expect increasingly that those who are caring for them are vaccinated against COVID-19.