Overview
On 14 December 2021 Parliament agreed regulations, which were made on 6 January 2022, which extend vaccination as a condition of deployment beyond residential care settings to any other Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated activity in health and social care, subject to certain exemptions and conditions. This guidance relates to the way these regulations apply in wider adult social care settings, including home (domiciliary) care, extra-care housing and supported living. The regulations to which this guidance relates will come into force on 1 April 2022. In advance of this date, there is a 12-week grace period to allow people sufficient time to be vaccinated.
Throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, people working in the adult social care sector have done a phenomenal job to support and protect those most at risk from COVID-19. Right across the sector, people have risen to this unprecedented challenge and gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep those they care for safe.
Making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of deployment for people providing direct, face to face CQC-regulated activities is intended to:
- protect those people receiving care and support and
- reduce the spread of COVID-19 in adult social care settings, including in people’s own homes
The regulations mean that where a registered person employs or otherwise engages someone to provide direct, face to face CQC-regulated social care activity, the registered person will need to obtain evidence that the individual:
- meets the vaccination requirements set out in the regulations
- is medically exempt, or
- is covered by certain other exceptions
This guidance is aimed at service providers, CQC registered persons, local authorities, people who are employed or otherwise engaged to provide CQC-regulated social care activity in settings other than care homes, and people who receive care and support services in these settings.
It includes further information about what the regulations mean for wider social care settings, including where and how they apply. The information set out below is for guidance only. The legal position in respect of the requirements under the regulations can only be assessed by reference to the specific circumstances that apply. Care providers should consider taking their own independent legal advice.
This guidance forms part of a group of guidance relating to vaccination as a condition of deployment: further information is available about vaccination as a condition of deployment in care homes which has recently been updated, and NHS England and Improvement has also issued guidance with information about vaccination as a condition of deployment in healthcare.
This policy and guidance will continue to be kept under review and these regulations will be amended if necessary, to ensure the safety of the most at-risk people in our society.
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