Sherwood Forest Hospitals has successfully vaccinated over 70 per cent of hospital staff against flu, making it one of the best performing Trusts in the country.

With a national average of 54.9 per cent, this is one of the highest uptakes the Trust has ever reached, with 70.2 per cent of staff across King’s Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals committed to protecting themselves, their patients and their families against this highly contagious infection.

Over 40 nurses from all areas of the Trust volunteered their time to be trained in administering the vaccination, which led to a strong taskforce proactively vaccinating colleagues within clinical areas and in numerous ‘grab a jab’ clinics over the three hospital sites.

Rebecca Garner, Senior Occupational Health Nurse and lead for the flu vaccination campaign, said the results were a huge success: “The tireless efforts of the taskforce to offer vaccinations to staff day and night are driven by one factor – patient safety. Encouraging staff to get vaccinated is one action we take to decrease the risk of infection to our patients, and consistently, year by year, our aims are achieved.”

Flu is much more severe than a cold. Anyone can catch it and for some people, especially the elderly, vulnerable patients in hospital and for those in ‘at risk’ groups, it can lead to a number of nasty, even life-threatening, complications. A comprehensive flu vaccination campaign is essential for the Trust in order to stop the risk of flu spreading.

Rebecca Garner added: “Staff have been very enthusiastic about our campaign and know the importance of flu vaccination. Although the flu jab isn’t compulsory, they know that it is essential not only to protect themselves, but also to stop the virus spreading to our vulnerable patients.”