Push to vaccinate every NHS staff member against flu ahead of winter

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is urging all staff members to make sure they have the flu vaccination this year to ensure patients are kept safe this winter.

To help reduce the impact of flu ahead of the colder months, NHS trusts across the country have been asked by NHS Improvement to achieve a ‘near universal’ uptake from their frontline staff of this year’s flu jab.

Patients at The Christie, which is the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe, are particularly vulnerable to the flu virus as many are immunocompromised due to their treatment.

Last year The Christie achieved 77% vaccination uptake against the national target of 75% and is now asking all frontline staff members to be vaccinated against flu to ensure they hit the new target.

To mark the launch of the campaign, the Chief Executive of The Christie, Roger Spencer vaccinated the Chief Nurse and Executive Director of Quality, Jackie Bird, at the Trust’s dedicated staff vaccination centre.

The Trust is using the successful #Jabdone campaign to help remind staff of their obligation to protect patients.

Roger Spencer, Chief Executive at The Christie, said: “The flu vaccination is a vital part of protecting our patients and we are committed to ensuring that our staff recognise this by having the jab.

“With so many immunocompromised patients on site, the importance of protecting against the flu virus cannot be stressed highly enough and it would be a great achievement to get 100% of our frontline staff vaccinated this year.”

Former Christie patient and Lead Operational Nurse at the Trust, Olivia Samuel, said: “Having been both a patient and staff member at The Christie I urge all staff members to be vaccinated.

“We owe it to our patients not to leave anything to chance and I really hope all our wonderful frontline staff members waste no time in getting down to the staff vaccination clinic.”

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has been ranked ‘Outstanding’ by the health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which referred to it as ‘exceptional’ and ‘a leader in its field’. It not only commended the Trust for its effectiveness and care, but highlighted its work in shaping the future of cancer care and noted the reach and influence of its clinical research projects. The CQC also rated The Christie the best specialist trust in the country, and one of the top three trusts overall in England