The covering letter from the Director-General Health and Chief Executive NHS Scotland states:
“Vaccination of Health and Social Care Staff
Further guidance was issued on 4 September setting out the definitions of health and
social care professionals who should be offered vaccination in this first phase. This
guidance is attached at Annex B. I would urge you to encourage staff involved in
frontline services to take the vaccination. The vaccination will both protect staff
members from infection, and minimise the risk of vulnerable patients also becoming
infected.”
Annex B states:
Definition of Frontline Social Care Worker for H1N1 vaccination programme
The definition of social care workers is "social care staff who are employed to
provide personal care to children and adults, both in care homes and in the
community" .
The Government has agreed the following definition, that "personal care" means:
1. physical assistance given to a person in connection with:
• eating or drinking (including the administration of parenteral nutrition)
• toileting (including in relation to the process of menstruation)
• washing or bathing
• dressing
• oral care, or
• the care of skin, hair and nails (with the exception of nail care provided
by chiropodist or podiatrist)
or
2. the prompting, together with supervision, of a person, in relation to the
performance of any of the activities listed in paragraph (a) where that person
is unable to make a decision for themselves in relation to performing such an
activity without such prompting and supervision.
Some examples of staff who should be included in this definition are:
• Care home staff in residential/nursing homes who provide personal
care to residents
• Domiciliary care workers employed by agencies who provide personal
care to service users in their own homes
• Personal assistants - staff employed to provide personal care to a
single service user
• Students and trainees in these disciplines
And examples of people who would not be included are:
• Social workers
• Informal carers - family members and/or friends
• Non care staff in residential/nursing homes
• Housing staff - those who work in managing sheltered and similar housing
• Staff working in child or adult safeguarding
• Foster carers.
Further groups may be added as further advice becomes available and could be prioritised within the second phase of the vaccination programme.
PLEASE NOTE: Providers should check local vaccination arrangements for front-line staff with your Health Board. Non front-line staff and residents remain responsibility of GPs.