Lower take-up of the Covid vaccine among BAME staff at York Hospital

Hospital staff from ethnic minority backgrounds and those working as cleaners, cooks and porters are less likely to have had the Covid-19 vaccine.

While 76 per cent of York Hospital staff have received the vaccine, only 59 per cent of eligible staff from ethnic minorities have been vaccinated.

David Watson, from the hospital, said managers have been trying to reassure staff and encourage them to consider the benefits of the vaccine.

He added that a lot of the information about the vaccine was sent online and did not reach facilities or ethnic minority staff who did not have access to work computers.

He told a hospital council of governors meeting that NHS policies meant they cannot alter their vaccine messaging to staff.

“To begin with a lot of communication was through IT,” he said. “A number of [facilities] staff don’t necessarily have computer devices and therefore we need to be smarter and come up with other ways of contacting them.”

“With ethnic minority and [facilities management] staff that work has been ongoing and it’s a problem we are aware of.”

Simon Morritt, chief executive of the hospital trust, said the vaccine is not mandatory for staff and while teams will “have follow up conversations to reiterate the benefits,” people do not have to accept the vaccination.