Maternity services ‘will be hardest hit’ if midwives
CONTROVERSIAL plans to sack unvaccinated NHS staff will see maternity services hardest hit, campaigners have claimed.
Their warning comes as the Together Declaration is set to deliver a 350,000-signature petition to Downing Street.
The angry campaign group is demanding a new rule that health workers must have had a Covid vaccination should be ditched.
The mandate is set to come into force on April 1, but the campaign group claims it will see 100,000 doctors, nurses and other staff booted out.
It says maternity services will be hardest hit with hundreds of midwives forced out.
One trust alone may lose 40 midwives while another
NHS trust manager said “half our midwives will be out”.
Heath Secretary Sajid Javid has insisted the rule is essential to protect patients. And a spokeswoman for the Government said: “The evidence is clear – vaccinations remain our best defence against Covid-19 by preventing infection and saving lives.
“Health and social care workers are responsible for looking after some of the most vulnerable people in society, many of whom are more likely to suffer serious health consequences if exposed to the virus.this is about patient safety, and ensuring people in hospital or care have as much protection as possible.”
But Mariatidela, 34, who has been a midwife for a decade and worked in the NHS for 14 years, said: “It’s the principle of your body, your choice.
“People should not be forced to have medical treatment they do not want.”
She was also furious at the revelations of rule-breaking parties in Downing Street, saying: “It makes me really angry. I’m about to face the sack but they could not even follow their own rules.”
Another 35-year-old midwife with 14 years’ experience, who wanted to remain anonymous, pointed out the profession is already facing a crisis because a large number of midwives are leaving due to stress or reaching retirement age.
“The younger ones coming in
are overworked and not staying,” she added.
Erikathompson, 44, a midwife for 21 years, said while NHS trusts are looking at recruiting from abroad to replace staff, regulations mean it is hard to replace sacked midwives.
She does not want to take the vaccine because she has had myocarditis, a heart condition which is known to be exacerbated by the jab.
She warned: “This is going to leave us with a second-class service because we will lose so many people.”
And Dr Ahmed Zaima, a consultant obstetrician, said:
“I’m fighting this for my children, because I don’t want them to be forced to have a medical intervention they do not want.”
He added: “It seems ironic the Royal College was giving me an award in 2005 for my research, and now I am facing the sack for not being vaccinated.”