Hospitals in England will have to get most of their staff vaccinated against flu if they want access to special A&E funding in the future, the Government has warned.
As part of an announcement in September of an extra £500 million funding for NHS A&E departments over the next two years, health secretary Jeremy Hunt made a clear link between the £250 million being made available to 53 NHS trusts this winter and flu jabs.
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Any eligible NHS trust would need to ensure that at least 75% of its own staff had been vaccinated against flu this year, he said.
Chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies said: “Currently, less than half of front-line NHS staff get vaccinated against flu – and in some hospitals, this figure drops to fewer than one in five. I’d urge all front-line staff to get vaccinated and encourage their colleagues to do so too.”
