King’s supports COVID-19 vaccines

13 January 2022 - The vaccine gives patients and staff the best protection against the virus.

As an organisation, we are fully committed to the COVID-19 vaccination programme, because it reduces hospitalisations and saves lives. COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and give people the best protection against the virus.

At King’s, we take our role as a provider of healthcare services very seriously, and treat hundreds of thousands of patients every year. COVID-19 vaccines protect our staff, and the communities we serve – and as a Trust, we have administered over 250,000 COVID-19 vaccines across our sites since December 2020.

Members of the public can access their COVID-19 vaccine or booster by booking an appointment, or visiting one of the many walk-in services in London, and across the country.

NHS staff – Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment

At present, it is not a mandatory requirement for NHS staff to get their COVID-19 vaccine, or to disclose their vaccine status to patients. This changes on 31 March 2022, by which date the majority of NHS staff will be required to receive two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

These new regulations are known as Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD). It is Government policy, which has been confirmed by Parliament – and is not a decision that sits within the control of the Trust. We do not want to lose any colleagues, all of whom we value highly, but we are required by law to implement the new regulations by the end of March, as are all hospitals and healthcare providers in England.

Kind, Respectful Team

As an organisation, our values are Kind, Respectful Team – and these values drive how we interact with patients and members of the public, and how we treat and communicate with our staff.

We are encouraging all our staff to get their COVID-19 vaccine because they give people the best protection against the virus. Ultimately, however, staff at the Trust will need to decide for themselves what they want to do – and we will respect whichever choice they make.

Our focus at present is on making sure staff are offered all the support they need to make an informed decision about the vaccine. 90% of our staff have already had their COVID-19 vaccine, but we hope that more of our colleagues decide to get their vaccine. This is why we are offering them advice, support and experts to talk to – and will continue to do so over the coming days and weeks.

We remain incredibly grateful to our patients and the public for their support. We also want to express our huge gratitude to our staff, whose efforts throughout the pandemic have been nothing short of extraordinary.

Professor Clive Kay, Chief Executive Officer

Dr Leonie Penna, Chief Medical Officer

Professor Nicola Ranger, Chief Nursing Officer and Executive Director of Midwifery