Recently retired doctors are being prevented from joining the vaccine rollout effort due to a web of bureaucracy, including diversity documentation mandated by the Equality Act. The Telegraph reported yesterday that “of the 40,000 doctors and nurses who applied to return in March, 30,000 were eligible but only 5,000 had been given jobs by July.” And the NHS does not appear to have done anything to streamline the process, despite the severity of the pandemic. 

Doctors are reporting the hurdles they have to overcome to register, including documents on Equality, Diversity and Human Rights, Fire Safety, Conflict Resolution, and Preventing Radicalisation. Responding to a retired healthcare professional who was struggling to sign up to deliver vaccines, the NHS said the stringent process was “in order to recruit a wide array of individuals from a variety of backgrounds”. Guido would have thought it more important to get as many people as possible, not bog it down with diversity quotas.

Retired doctors and nurses are now taking to social media to express their frustration with the system.

Reached this page on my application and have given up for now. Can’t see many retired clinicians wading through this lot – or having all required docs. Process *must* be urgently streamlined @NHSEnglandNMD Couldn’t design anything more bureaucratic in a month of Sundays! https://t.co/IJuVjb7qNC

— Dr Maureen Baker CBE (@Maureenprsb) December 30, 2020

Yes I’m going through this today….now on my 7th hour of CPD! Not even at ‘pre-employment screening’ yet. Suspect many will have given up by now 😱 https://t.co/wckLrGEvbB

— Prof Nicola Thomas (@nicolamthomas) December 30, 2020

This pointless red tape is costing lives.