A system that provides proof of vaccination of care home staff is to be piloted at Barchester Healthcare this month.
The myGP TICKet is a verification feature within the myGP healthcare management app, enabling individuals to show their vaccination status on their smartphone.
Barchester will start using it among care staff from next week after the care provider said having the coronavirus jab would be mandatory for those looking after the elderly in its homes.
“Given that our residents fall primarily in the highest risk group for Covid-19, it would be irresponsible of us not to mandate vaccination for those employees for whom it is medically safe,” said commercial director Simon McCall.
Full rollout of the myGP TICKet is expected to take place later this month and could be used to make a number of areas within care homes safer.
For example, visitors could be asked to present the app as confirmation of their vaccination status prior to visits.
The system will be made available to all NHS patients and anyone who would like to be notified when the technology has gone live can register to this service on the provider’s website. In the meantime, Barchester will trial its functionality among staff.
“We want our staff to understand the benefits of the vaccine and we have been working hard to better educate them on what this could mean for them, and for our residents,” said McCall.
