UNVACCINATED staff at York Hospital who fail to get their first Covid jab by February 3 WILL risk being dismissed without any redundancy pay, York Hospitals NHS Trust has confirmed.

In December, MPs approved regulations that will require NHS and social care staff to have had at least two Covid jabs by April 1 this year.

New NHS guidance makes clear that that will require all NHS staff who come into contact with patients to have had their first vaccination by February 3 at the latest.

Staff who have not had both jabs by April 1, and who cannot be be redeployed to roles that don't involve patient contact, will then be dismissed.

The regulations cover all hospital staff who come into contact with patients in any way - including nurses, doctors, other health staff, porters, receptionists and others.

There will be some exemptions, for example on medical grounds.

And a spokesperson for York Hospitals Trust said that every effort would be made to redeploy unvaccinated staff to roles where they would not come into contact with patients.

But the number of suitable roles was likely to be limited, she said, and roles would not be created specifically with a view to keeping staff on.

"If we have a (suitable) vacancy, we will look at that. But if staff cannot be redeployed, they will be dismissed," she said. "There will be no redundancies. That's the route that we have been asked to take."

The spokeswoman said the Trust - which operates hopitals in York and Scarborough, plus smaller units in Malton, Selby, Easingwold and elsewhere - was writing to all staff who remained unvaccinated to update them and to urge them to get vaccinated.

The hopsital has its own in-house vaccination hub, and staff are available to have conversations with those who have been reluctant to get the jab.

"We are making it as easy as possible for staff to get vaccinated," the spokeswoman said.

Under the regulations, staff who, by Friday February 4, have still not had their first jab, will then be invited to a formal meeting at which they will be notified that they could face dismissal.

In figures releazsed earlier this week, the Hospitals Trust confirmed that at least 94 per cent of all staff across all its sites who came into contact with patients had been fully vaccinated.

"Work is currently ongoing to validate the remaining percentage to understand if they have been vaccinated elsewhere - such as abroad - or are clinically exempt, for instance," the Trust said then.

"We are continuing to support individuals who have not yet received the vaccination to encourage them to take up the offer of both doses, which will always be made available to them, and we are currently offering one-to-one follow up with unvaccinated staff to offer structured support and access to expert clinical advice."