The chief executive of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust has said she thinks it is an "inevitability" that the Government will decide to ditch plans to force frontline health staff to be double-vaccinated against Covid-19.
The plans - announced last year and backed by politicians from all parties - have been opposed by unions including UNISON, and around the country NHS figures have warned it could worsen the health service's staffing crisis.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Dame Jackie Daniel - chief exec at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust - said though her organisation was "one of the lucky ones", the health service just can't afford to lose staff.
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She said: "We're between a rock and a hard place and I think it's an inevitability at this point in time - that the decision is made today.
"We're one of the lucky ones where we've got 95% of our staff being vaccinated - and by the way, I still think vaccination is absolutely the right thing - but we can't afford to lose even one member of staff.
"And for some trusts, they're predicting it could be up to a 1,000 staff, for example - which is just unthinkable."
Asked whether she thought the decision would undermine the vaccine drive, she said: "It's a balance of risk but I think mandating vaccines is always a difficult position.
"What we found right throughout the vaccination process is that by providing staff with more information and working with them, we've had huge success.
"I think that's a much much better approach. We don't get these ultimatums and these standoffs - and I think we still want to aim to get every member of staff vaccinated."
Earlier this month, UNISON's figures including North East regional secretary Clare Williams told ChronicleLive how by imposing the vaccine mandate, the Government "risked making the same mistake twice" by causing thousands to leave professions already struggling with huge recruitment issues.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid is to meet ministers on Monday afternoon to discuss the vaccine mandate - and The Telegraph has reported he is expected to announce a U-turn.
Last week, he said reflecting on the policy was important but that it was the "professional duty" of NHS staff to be vaccinated.
Speaking to the BBC, Patricia Marquis, director of the Royal College of Nursing, said her organisation would back the move, but also would continue to support encouraging everyone in the profession to get jabbed. She said: "The vaccination is the right policy but forcing vaccination wasn't - especially not in the context of a staffing crisis."
The Telegraph also reported the change of heart would apply to social care too - but this morning one social care manager told ChronicleLive this was too late.
Dawn Esslemont, manager at Eothen Homes in Whitley Bay, said: "It's a bit frustrating. With our staff here at Eothen we've had very high vaccine uptake and we didn't lose lots of staff but I know the sector as a whole has lost a fair few workers.
"Now to go back on that - someone from the Government was staying staff could go back - but you can bet your bottom dollar these people will have got other jobs. They might also be nervous - what if the rules change again?"
