The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new quality standard on increasing the uptake of flu vaccinations among people who are eligible.
The quality standard discusses the following priority areas for improvement:
- To use a range or combination of methods, such as phone, face-to-face, or social media communications, to invite people in eligible groups for flu vaccination. Commissioners are encouraged to review their services to make sure systems are in place to accommodate these different methods.
- To include information within invitations to vaccination appointments about people’s individual situation or clinical risk. This will help eligible people understand the benefits of having a flu vaccine and why getting flu could be particularly risky for them.
- To ensure health records are timely, accurate and consistent in order to improve the accuracy of uptake figures and reduce unnecessary invitations to those who have already had flu vaccinations.
- To ensure employers enable health and social care staff who are in direct contact with vulnerable people to have flu vaccinations, including allowing flexibility during shifts.