Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage covid-19 vaccine take-up in patients with severe mental illness.

The Government continues to work with the National Health Service and UK Health Security Agency to provide information to explain the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination and has launched a nationwide communications campaign to encourage eligible members of the public to protect themselves by getting their COVID-19 boosters. To raise awareness of the risks of being unvaccinated and to make vaccination as convenient as possible, guidance is being given to general practitioners, primary care networks and vaccination services to prioritise individuals coming forward for vaccination.

Resources are also being shared by Charity Partners to ensure greater reach to individuals with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) as well as invites sent to those with SMI and their carers to further encourage them to come forward for vaccination. We are also providing reasonable adjustments for individuals, where identified or requested, including quiet spaces and additional resources.

There is a collaborative approach to analyse and understand the vaccine uptake data for those with SMI through engagement with national and regional mental health leads, health inequalities leads and data analysts. To understand what works and develop good practice, the COVID-19 vaccination deployment programme works closely with NHS SMI programme leads in addition to engaging closely with SMI charities.