Thousands of hospital workers have not been vaccinated against the flu

Across the Black Country and Staffordshire more than 7,500 doctors, nurses and other front-line staff have not been vaccinated. A total of 857 have refused to get the jab.

The uptake rate for staff at health trusts across the two counties getting the jab is 72 per cent, higher than the national average of 66 per cent.

NHS England has urged healthcare workers to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their patients, pushing for "near universal" coverage.

At the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, which runs New Cross Hospital and Cannock Chase Hospital, 2,512 workers did not get the jab between September and December last year, according to the figures released by Public Health England. A total of 3,372 staff out of 6,284 were vaccinated in the four-month period, an uptake of 60 per cent.

Ann-Marie Cannaby, the chief nurse at the health trust, said more staff had since been vaccinated, with the uptake now nearly 62 per cent.

She added: "The take up of the staff flu vaccination this year has been strong, with our latest figures showing that 61.57% of frontline staff have received the vaccination.

“We are in the top five most improved trusts in the country for flu vaccination this year, showing a significant increase on last year’s figures along with the motivation from staff to get their jabs.

“Additionally, there are some staff who cannot have the flu jab due to allergies, ethical reasons or health conditions. Staff could also be on maternity leave, or long term sick leave and therefore would not receive the flu jab.”

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust had the best up-take rate in the region with 82 per cent of staff getting vaccinated last year. Of the trust's 4,512 staff, at least 3,687 have been vaccinated against the flu.

Chief Nurse Paula Gardner said: “This year our flu campaign has been our most successful to date. In just under seven weeks we reached 80 per cent uptake, making us the highest performing trust within the West Midlands.”

At Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Russells Hall Hospital, 1,664 staff had not been vaccinated between September and December last year. However that figure has now decreased to 1,464.

Diane Wake, the trust's chief executive, said: "The flu vaccination campaign for NHS staff launches nationally in October, with the target of getting 75 per cent of frontline staff vaccinated by the end of February. As of January 20 we had vaccinated 3,151 of our frontline staff, which is 68 per cent.

"Flu vaccination is not compulsory but we encourage all our staff to get their flu jab, protecting themselves, their patients and their families, through a high-profile Trust-wide campaign. We have peer vaccinators in each area and hold regular drop-in clinics, plus arranging for vaccinations to be available for staff who work evenings and weekends."

At Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which run's the town's Manor Hospital, 730 staff had not been vaccinated by the end of December.

Catherine Griffiths, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust's director of people and culture, said: “We’re delighted to say that the trust was in the top five most improved trusts in the country for its flu vaccination uptake among staff in figures released by Public Health England last November.

“In 2018/19 a total of 64.8% of Walsall Healthcare staff had been vaccinated compared to 36.2% during the same period in 2017/18. By the end of December 2018 a total of 77.10% of staff had taken up the flu jab – exceeding the national target of 75%.

“The health and wellbeing of our staff is extremely important to our organisation and throughout the flu season we have been encouraging colleagues to look after themselves as well as our patients by taking up the offer of vaccination.

“Our Occupational Health colleagues worked with peer vaccinators to offer twice weekly flu clinics and visited wards and departments at night and during the weekend to reach as many staff as possible and give them a number of opportunities to be vaccinated. They also held regular clinics for our staff who work in community services.

“Some staff do decline the vaccination and, while we have to capture that information so that the feedback can inform future national campaigns, this information is confidential.”

More than 7,856 staff at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), which runs County Hospital in Stafford, have been vaccinated out of a total workforce of 9,951.

Emyr Philips, the trust's deputy director for infection prevention and sepsis, said: "We have had a phenomenal response from staff to the flu vaccination campaign.

"More than 7,856 staff have had their jab since October 2018, which is the highest ever number of staff vaccinated at UHNM.

"The response has been so positive that we hit our target of 75 per cent of frontline staff in the first nine weeks.

"Currently UHNM is fifth highest nationally in terms of the number of vaccinations delivered only behind Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham and while we have achieved our target, we are still continuing to vaccinate staff at both hospitals with an aim to hit 100% of all staff.

"Although the flu jab isn't compulsory, our staff know that it is important to protect themselves, their patients and their families."

Health bosses have warned that a failure to get the flu jab could exacerbate the NHS crisis.

Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: "I can see employers taking a firm stance with anyone who chooses not to be vaccinated and who then contracts influenza.

"The NHS workforce crisis is well-described, and anything that could further exacerbate that is to be avoided."

Public Health England medical director Professor Paul Cosford added: "Healthcare professionals have a responsibility to be vaccinated to protect themselves and their patients from flu.

"Front-line health and social care workers are at more risk of catching flu because of their contact with patients.

"They are also more likely to pass it on to their patients, many of whom will be at higher risk of serious complications of flu."

NHS England said staff have achieved a record level of uptake for the vaccine this winter.

Across the United Kingdom, there have been 1,684 hospital admissions and 102 deaths due to flu since October 2018.