Shielding staff say they were forced back to work without a risk assessment

Up to around 3.8 million people were told to shield from coronavirus last year, including an unknown number of clinicians and other NHS staff.

Earlier this year, however, the government said people would no longer need to shield from April 2021.

In the run-up to this date, NHS England told trusts that all shielding staff who were expected to return to work should have “a comprehensive, individual, workplace risk assessment”.

But the results of an online survey, conducted by a peer support group for shielding doctors, suggest that substantial numbers had returned to work without a risk assessment in place.

The UK-wide survey was conducted in April 2021. It was self-selecting and had 124 respondents. Forty-seven (38 per cent) of the respondents had yet to receive a risk assessment despite returning to work, while 22 received one only after they returned. The remaining respondents (45 per cent) received one beforehand in line with the guidance.

In a comments section, some respondents referred to “bullying from peers” as a result of needing extra safety protections at work, and “difficult” working relationships.

Multiple respondents said they had not been able to access professional occupational health advisers or had only been offered access after they felt forced to return to work. One said this was because their occupational health department had almost “collapsed with the amount of work” it had to do.

The Faculty of Occupational Medicine acknowledged demand for the assessments had exceeded members’ capacity. 

Steve Nimmo, its president, said: “The covid pandemic has highlighted that there just aren’t enough occupational health doctors…

“With large numbers of clinically extremely vulnerable healthcare workers returning to work, this has exceeded the capacity of many occupational health departments.”

Many respondents called for the publication of a national risk assessment to ensure uniform treatment and outcomes. One said the instructions from NHS England came across as “quite a lot of lip service but little action”.

Separately, Lord Mendelsohn, an officer of the all-party parliamentary group on vulnerable groups to pandemics, wrote to ministers this week to demand “national guidance” for this group of clinicians. He said this should include guidance on risk assessments, universal access to FFP3 masks and safe working environments.

Paul Deemer, head of diversity and inclusion at NHS Employers, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said: “NHS organisations have been working hard to look after all their staff during these challenging times, and will be aware that the right support is especially important to meet the various needs of staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

“We will continue to provide resources to ensure there is clarity and reassurance for both staff and employers on returning to work, in terms of safety, wellbeing and career progression.”

NHS England referred HSJ to Health and Safety Executive’s website on risk assessments, which says employers are “required by law to protect your employees, and others, from harm.”