Vaccination is not mandatory; however, it is important as a Health Board we understand where uptake of vaccinations is low and where we might want to support staff to obtain a vaccination in order to protect, patients, staff and families. The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation and Welsh Government provide recommendations on who should receive a vaccination based on an assessment of benefit and risk. Healthcare staff are prioritised for winter respiratory vaccinations and the occupational health team are responsible for ensuring staff are offered and can access these vaccinations. Monitoring uptake of vaccinations therefore helps the occupational health team understand where uptake is low and where we can provide additional support to increase uptake.
Health and safety legislation and guidance does not require information about individual vaccination status to be made available to employers about all staff, however there are exceptions for some work locations and roles, which are defined in law. The way in which we will match data with employer records and report on vaccination uptake is supported by data protection laws. As such, we will use the data based on the ‘legitimate interests’ of the Health Board, which means we have tested whether our proposed approach is legitimate, necessary and that it balances “against the individual’s interests, rights and freedoms”. Based on this test, we have decided to set limits to how the data will be used in the form of protections.