Patients have given pharmacy flu vaccinations a glowing report for the second year runing, with 98 per cent of almost 40,000 surveyed by Novartis Vaccines saying they would return to the same community pharmacy for their flu vaccination next year.

Almost 80 per cent of the patients surveyed were not eligible for a free flu vaccine on the NHS and 40 per cent said they only had a vaccination because it was offered by their pharmacist.

Convenience was the main reason for patients choosing a vaccination in the pharmacy, with 43 per cent citing a convenient location and 28 per cent referring to the fact it was readily available on that day.

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	Of the 39,306 questionnaires completed during the 2011-12 influenza season, 92 per cent of patients rated the service as excellent. And 94 per cent said they would use the pharmacy for other vaccinations. The results compare with 97 per cent of patients who said they would return to community pharmacy for their flu jab in surveys conducted during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.

The flu jabs were delivered by Novartis Vaccines partners including Tesco Pharmacy, the Co-operative Pharmacy, Superdrug and independent AAH customers. The company also offers support to LPCs in getting flu jab services commissioned for NHS at-risk patients and told C+D it had had success across 18 PCTs for the upcoming 2012/13 season.

Novartis UK market development manager Graham Thoms said pharmacists had a "pivotal role to play" in ensuring at-risk patients were vaccinated. "The uptake rates are appalling in England," he told C+D. "In the under-65s it's around 50 per cent, which means 2.5 million patients who should get a free flu jab from their GP don't."

Mr Thoms said he hoped the positive patient feedback would "give pharmacists the confidence to continue with vaccination services and hopefully get involved with other services as well".

Last month, Community Pharmacy Wales announced that about 100 Welsh pharmacies were likely to be commissioned to provide NHS flu jabs this autumn, with nearly all pharmacies in the country providing the service from next year.