The number of vaccinations, according to data from PharmOutcomes and Sonar Informatics, has far surpassed last year’s grand total of 595,467, with almost a week left until the vaccination period ends.

Rosie Taylor, head of service development at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), told C+D that pharmacy contractors and their teams had “exceeded expectations once again”.

“They have put tremendous effort into preparing for and providing a vital flu vaccination service for at-risk patients in their communities,” Ms Taylor said.

In the first eight weeks of the season pharmacists surpassed the total number of NHS flu vaccinations administered in community pharmacies in the previous year, Ms Taylor said.

“We have seen new approaches to provision of the service,” Ms Taylor added. She highlighted a partnered campaign between the Beacon Medical Group of GP practices and Devon local pharmaceutical committee (LPC).*

The approach saw the GPs and LPC co-design posters to ensure consistent messaging, and a reciprocal approach to referring patients to the other provider for their vaccination as necessary.

Flu by numbers

Below is the breakdown of pharamcy flu vaccinations, given using PharmOutcomes, per month. PSNC is currently unable to obtain the daily breakdown of flu statistics from Sonar Informatics.

*Watch out for C+D's feature on Devon LPC and Beacon Medical Group next week.