Croydon NHS exceeds national target for protecting staff from flu
4 January 2018
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has exceeded the annual national target of 70% for its proportion of patient-facing staff vaccinated against flu.
By 31 December 2017, 1,806 (71%) of our patient-facing staff were vaccinated, thanks to extensive work by our vaccinators and Occupational Health team.
This is an important achievement which greatly helps protect staff and patients from the dangerous virus.
Our Trust has avoided the rigors of flu so far this winter but is always vigilant about it. There are nationwide warnings that this could be a difficult flu season.
Last winter we were London's second-most vaccinated Trust in London. We will continue vaccinating our staff throughout January and February to further increase our protection from flu.
Members of the public and the flu jab
The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk. This is to ensure they are protected against catching flu and developing serious complications.
You are eligible to receive a free flu jab if you are in these groups, in which case please ask your GP:
- are 65 years of age or over
- are pregnant
- have certain medical conditions
- are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility
- receive a carer's allowance, or you are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill.
Please see the national NHS web site here for more information about getting your vaccination.
Why it is important
Poor health can make people very vulnerable to flu and it can even be fatal. In fact, flu can be so dangerous that up to one third of flu deaths occur in healthy people. Public Health England estimated that an average 8,000 people die from flu in England each year and sometimes this reaches 14,000.
So flu is a serious condition that should not be underestimated.