Pharmacists should highlight uptake gaps to secure flu jab services
Commissioning Pharmacists must make a case for administering NHS flu vaccinations by highlighting last year’s gaps in uptake, pharmacy leaders have urged.
Pharmacists must make a case for administering NHS flu vaccinations by highlighting last year's gaps in uptake, pharmacy leaders have urged.
Just half of under-65s in clinical at-risk groups were vaccinated during winter 2012-13, which demonstrated an opportunity for pharmacy to make an impact, according to PSNC and the Independent Pharmacy Federation (IPF).
NHS London has commissioned pharmacies across the city to provide flu vaccinations, C+D learned last week. But the IPF warned that there were "huge disparities" in pharmacy commissioning and urged LPCs to act as soon as possible to secure the service. Vaccine supplies will commence in September.
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Pharmacists' accessibility to at-risk under-65s could help them secure flu services, pharmacy leaders argued |
 More on flu vaccinations
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The government's flu vaccination plan 2013-14, published at the end of last month, reiterated targets to vaccinate three quarters of over-65s and under-65s in a clinical at-risk group. |
Independents to deliver flu jabs under Northern
Ireland's first PGDPSNC said pharmacists could boost uptake of the vaccine among the under-65 at-risk groups by alerting patients who came in regularly to collect their medicines.
IPF chief executive Claire Ward backed the comments. "GPs take the low-hanging fruit and the people they always see, but there are other people who will probably go into their pharmacy," she told C+D.
Ms Ward said she would like to see central commissioning of pharmacy flu services in England but stressed that this was unlikely to happen under the NHS's locally focused agenda.
"There are so many independents out there thinking there's going to be something from on high telling you how to get involved in commissioning services, but it isn't going to be like that," Ms Ward warned. "We're going to see huge disparities."
Ms Ward urged independents to use data on the success of pharmacy flu vaccinations to present to local commissioners. "We need some good examples of how this has worked and what the pharmacist is able to do in reaching hard-to-reach groups," she said.
Pharmacy Voice chair and contractor Ian Facer stressed that pharmacists would have to act now to avoid missing out on this year's winter season.
Information on flu vaccination commissioning can be found on the PSNC website.
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Case study: Lancashire
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Have you had a flu jab service commissioned this year? Comment below or email us at [email protected] You can also find C+D on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook |
