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Universities are still requesting that student nurses be fully vaccinated against Covid despite the Government abandoning the requirement for health workers in March, it has emerged.
At least 10 universities are imposing the mandate on their web pages where applicants can find more information about the courses, an investigation by Nigel Farage on GB News found.
The website of Liverpool John Moores University even tells prospective students that it is “illegal to work in an NHS setting” without confirmation of Covid vaccination status.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) also states on its website that further education candidates must have the Covid jab as part of the entry requirements.
Prospective students applying via Ucas are greeted with the message: “You should be aware that from 1 April 2022, all NHS and Social Care personnel (including students) will be required to have completed an approved course of vaccinations against Covid-19 before they can be deployed in roles that involve face-to-face contact with patients/service users.
Alternative programme
“If you are unable, or unwilling, to be vaccinated at this time, and cannot satisfy our placement providers that you are medically exempt, we will not be able to provide you with the practice placements necessary to complete your health and social care degree. If this is the case, you may wish to look at an alternative programme or career path.”
Health experts said it was worrying that nursing students and social care trainees were being discouraged from the profession because of outdated messaging, particularly when the NHS is facing severe recruitment problems.
Oncologist Karol Sikora, who has previously spoken out against vaccine mandates, said: “This is utterly ludicrous and at a time of severe staff shortages, endangering patients in the long run.
“I thought we were past this unscientific shaming, but apparently not.
“The vaccine does not prevent the spread of the virus in any meaningful way, so there is no moral or empirical reasoning whatsoever. Government should step in to rectify this discrimination.”
Lawyer Stephen Jackson, who led the legal challenge to the NHS mandate, said “As experience of the care home and NHS mandates has shown, coercive and discriminatory vaccination policies do nothing but harm to our health services. Those mandates were withdrawn in March because the Government could not justify them. Eight months later, the universities cannot justify similar practices either.”
Universities displaying the out-of-date information include the University of Hertfordshire which states: “Covid vaccines will be mandatory from the spring for all healthcare workers.”
Other institutes whose websites continue to state that a mandate is required include the University of Birmingham, University of Chichester, University of Northampton, Middlesex University London, Staffordshire University, University College Birmingham, UWE Bristol and University of Derby.
The Government faced a major backlash after it told NHS staff and front-line care workers they would need to be vaccinated or lose their jobs, eventually being forced into a U-turn in March.
The Department of Health and Social Care’s impact assessment found that as many as 73,000 NHS staff in England could have lost their jobs as a result of the policy if it had come to fruition.
40,000 staff lost
But before the change came into effect, the social care sector estimated that more than 40,000 members of staff had been lost because of the mandate.
One student, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “I was looking at the entry requirements for adult nursing for Greenwich University on the Ucas website. I found out that applicants need to have the Covid-19 vaccine. I decided that I am not going to apply.
“No wonder they have so many places for clearing this year. The worst for years I had been told.”
The Nuffield Trust estimates there are around 17,000 unfilled nursing and midwifery posts, while Ucas has found that nursing applications this year fell by eight per cent.
Ucas said it would be amending the relevant pages on its website this week after accepting that the requirement was out of date.
The University of Northampton said that the requirement was an error and that it did not make mandatory Covid vaccinations part of the entry requirements for health and social care courses.
The other universities have been approached for comment.
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