For the first time, the number of NHS staff vaccinated against has surpassed 500,000 NHS staff, new figures show.
Figures released this week by Public Health England show that 534,090 frontline staff (55%) chose to be vaccinated this winter.
This is a 10% increase on the 459,293 vaccinated last year, and is the first time more than half of frontline staff have been vaccinated.
The NHS Employers organisation is in its third year of running the national flu fighter campaign. Sue Covill, director of employment services at NHS Employers, said she is “extremely proud” to have reached some major milestones this year.
She said: “We can now say the majority of frontline staff have flu vaccinations and this is a good cultural shift, helping staff to view it as a commonplace routine like washing your hands.
“This winter 5,000 staff a day have had vaccinations and this is down to very creative work including extensive social media activity and engagement between staff and managers. These are great behaviours and we really encourage teams to keep that momentum going – in flu and in other areas – and to keep sharing their best practice.”
GP surgeries, trusts and other organisations have received flu fighter’s wide range of support material, access to expert advice, and expanded its contacts network throughout the changes across the NHS.
