Esther McVey has stepped up pressure on Government to compensate care workers across Tatton given the sack for choosing not to be vaccinated.
The renewed call from the Tatton MP comes after it was confirmed the need for mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff and care workers will officially be dropped from March 15.
But Ms McVey said, while it was excellent news for NHS staff, who had been threatened with choosing between taking the Covid vaccine or keeping their job, the decision came too late for unvaccinated care workers who were sacked at the end of last year.
Ms McVey said: “Dropping the ‘No Jab No Job’ policy was the right thing to do and I am glad Government listened. I was against this from the start and did not believe anyone should be forced to take a vaccine if they did not want to. However, we must do something to compensate the care workers who have suffered because of this policy.”
The Government U-turn following a short consultation with NHS Trusts now means no one will be forced to choose between being vaccinated or keeping their job.
The consultation saw responses from than 90,000 health and social care professionals and members of the public. The overwhelming response was against mandatory vaccinations with 96 per cent of the public wanting the policy dropped. In total for all groups surveyed, 90 per cent were against the requirement.
Ms McVey said: “My local care staff worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic only to be thanked with the sack. Many were forced to leave a job they loved and overnight lost their income. It is not right and we should be doing something for these workers. I want to see compensation and support to get them back into the jobs they loved, were so good at, so we can have these caring professionals back looking after our elderly and vulnerable and providing the excellent care to patients they always give.”
Ms McVey has written to Government ministers again, setting out her call for compensation. She previously raised the issue with the Prime Minister in Parliament.
She added: “I will keep pushing this issue of care workers as what happened to them was utterly wrong. No one deserves to be treated the way they were – especially people who gave so much throughout the toughest of times.”