NHS Providers' chief executive, Chris Hopson, was interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning about mandatory vaccinations for NHS staff, ahead of a possible government announcement this week. See below a summary of his comments:

"Our survey of trust leaders indicates a small majority would back mandatory staff vaccination but it's important to remember there are two risks to manage here.

"It's not just about avoiding cross infection by unvaccinated NHS staff. It's also about the potential loss of those staff who don't take the vaccine when the service is already under huge pressure and carrying 93,000 vacancies. Our survey showed over 90% of trust leaders are concerned about the potential for additional staffing gaps in both the NHS and social care should a requirement be introduced.

"Trusts have worked hard to encourage staff uptake, which is significantly higher than for the wider population, but there are some groups where take up rates are lower.

"If we do it with careful thought the introduction of mandatory vaccination does potentially provide a prompt to have further conversations with those who, for a number of reasons, are vaccine hesitant but the government must recognise the risk of losing unvaccinated frontline staff and support efforts to maximise voluntary take up first.

"We know, as the chief medical officer has said, that we have a very difficult winter coming up and the NHS is going to be absolutely at full stretch.

"So it makes sense – if the government decides to proceed with this – to set the deadline for mandatory staff vaccination once that winter period has passed, no sooner than April 2022."