'Pinged' health, social care staff can skip isolation if required, says department

DOUBLE vaccinated frontline NHS and social care staff in England- who if told to self-isolate- will be permitted to attend work in exceptional circumstances, Department of Health and Social Care said on Monday (19).

Staff, including social care, will be exempted from isolating in "exceptional circumstances", when absences may lead to a "significant risk of harm". They will need to show a negative PCR test and take daily lateral flow tests.

The measure is being introduced to "alleviate pressure on NHS and social care services", the department said, adding that the qualifying criteria will be determined on a case-by-case basis following a risk assessment.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “As we learn to live with this virus, it's important that we ensure frontline staff can keep providing the best possible care and support to people up and down the country.”

“The government has backed healthcare services at every turn through this global pandemic and these new rules will fortify our collective defences against this awful virus, by allowing fully vaccinated frontline NHS and social care staff to continue to work when needed.”

The announcement comes as more than 500,000 alerts to quarantine were sent by the NHS Covid-19 app in England and Wales in the first week of July, with supermarkets among the latest businesses to say they may have to cut opening hours or shut shops due to a lack of staff.

Those "pinged" by the app are advised to self-isolate for 10 days, but those contacted by NHS Test and Trace in England via text, email or phone can be fined if they do not self-isolate.

UK Health Security Agency Chief Executive, Jenny Harries, said: “With the number of cases continuing to rise, it is imperative that we do everything we can to manage this virus and support our NHS and social care services under the strain of increased demand and sustained pressure.”

 “We have provided specific guidance to NHS and social care settings for circumstances where there is a significant risk to health or safety resulting from staff absence or a critical service cannot run.”

The new guidelines will be applicable only to those NHS staff members who are fully-vaccinated and should not be working with clinically extremely vulnerable patients or residents, as determined by the organisation.