County council praised for Covid-19 vaccine rollout

Lancashire County Council's efforts to extend its vaccine programme to its most vulnerable residents have been recognised by central government.

The county council has featured in a case study in a new paper that has been published by the Department of Health and Social Care's Adult Social Care Booster Taskforce to help adult social care and vaccine leads from local authorities, integrated care systems, and providers to enhance their own area's protection against Covid-19.

While the vaccination effort is led by the NHS, Lancashire County Council undertook some targeted vaccination work to support these efforts. The case study outlines the positive steps taken by the council to protect people in adult social care, while also highlighting the good practice of the wider vaccination programme.

The county council commissioned two vaccine buses, which have been kitted out to meet the requirement for delivering vaccinations. These vehicles have been deployed to various sites across the county and are supported by district councils and Lancashire Temporary Staffing Agency (LTSA) staff, an internal staffing agency that was set up by the county council at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 to meet demand for residential care roles.

Vaccinators at these pop-up sites have delivered hundreds of jabs in recent weeks, including a significant number of first doses. This service has been particularly helpful for the homeless population as it allowed them to walk into any site and get their jab without additional barriers.

The county council has also been commended in the paper for some of the positive actions it has taken to support the adult social care sector with its Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD) work.

The local authority has supported care home managers by providing a Covid vaccination checklist to help them understand those staff who were hesitant, but likely to get the vaccine and those staff who ultimately prepared to walk away from their job rather than be vaccinated. A checklist was also created to support social care providers to review their workforce resilience and business continuity arrangements as we approached autumn/winter 2021.

All of this was in addition to the ongoing support for the adult social care sector that has been given throughout the pandemic.

Louise Taylor, executive director of adult services and health and wellbeing, said: "Adult social care staff have been incredible throughout the pandemic – I have been completely blown away by the way the workforce has responded to this monumental challenge.

"It is pleasing to see that some of the work carried out by the county council to support providers around staff vaccinations has been acknowledged as good practice for others to follow."

County Councillor Graham Gooch, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for adult social care, said: "Protecting our most vulnerable residents has been our top priority throughout the pandemic. As well as protecting against severe disease, numerous studies have shown that vaccines provide some protection against transmission.

"A recent review by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also shown that people who have had one or more doses are less likely to develop Long Covid than those who remain unvaccinated. If you have not yet your booster or your first or second dose – it is not too late – so please come forward and make sure you have as much protection from the virus as possible."

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