Thousands of unvaccinated NHS workers in Yorkshire could lose their jobs next month

The latest figures published by the NHS show 9,043 of the 243,478 registered staff in the region have not received a single jab - that is around 3.7 per cent.

New Government regulations state frontline staff must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with two jabs by April 1 – meaning they must have had their first vaccine on February 3.

Official NHS guidance issued last week stated staff who are unvaccinated, and not medically exempt, will be invited to a meeting with their manager on February 4 and “notified that a potential outcome of the meeting may be dismissal”.

According to the latest NHS figures, more than 94 per cent of staff in England have received at least one jab, but 81,626 have not, and unions are concerned the mandatory jab rule could exacerbate current staffing issues.

The Royal College of Nursing has warned the policy could “backfire”, as there are already around 40,000 registered nurse vacancies in England and an estimated shortfall of around 2,000 midwives.

The Government’s own impact assessment warns 73,000 NHS staff in England could be lost, making the nursing workforce crisis even worse.

The guidance said NHS organisations are “encouraged to explore redeployment” for unvaccinated workers - to see if they can take on roles where they will not have contact with patients - but they are not required to find “suitable alternative employment” or make redundancy payments.

It added: “Organisations should actively support vaccination uptake via communication and engagement with staff.

“Disseminating vaccine information, conducting supportive one-to-one conversations, and engaging with clinical and community experts will help to convert vaccine hesitancy to vaccine uptake.”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs last week the Government "remain committed to putting these measures into force" on April 1 as they will protect patients and vaccine uptake among staff has been “very promising” in recent months.