GHP April 2016

ghp April 2016 | 15 Health & Social Care ‘Get me out of here’ and ‘carers’ in the community’ win at this year’s NHS flu fighter awards The awards are part of the NHS flu fighter campaign run by NHS Employers, which has helped increase the number of frontline NHS staff having flu vaccinations. Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers, who co-presented the awards, said: “These teams have done fantastic work to help make the NHS an even safer place for staff and patients. More than a million people use the NHS every 36 hours and many can be very vulnerable to flu. It’s great that over half a million NHS staff now find time in their busy days to seek out these voluntary vaccinations The dedica- tion shown by flu teams has been inspirational and deserves both celebration and recognition.” At the end of the last winter 490,000 (50%) of frontline NHS staff were choosing to be vaccinated, compared with 359,000 (34.7 per cent) in 2010/11- the winter before the national campaign began. The vaccinations are not mandatory but help to protect staff, their friends, family and patients from flu. Flu fighter provides information and resources to help the NHS promote vaccinations locally and make them more convenient to have. More details are at www.nhsemploy- ers.org/flufighter , #flufighter and www.facebook.com/ nhsflufighter and the winners of all seven categories can be seen at www.nhsemployers.org/flufighter Winner of flu fighter champion: Liz Grady of Alder Hay Hospital. Alongside her role as Health and Wellbeing lead, Liz has led the flu fighter team for the past three flu seasons. In this time Liz has improved flu uptake from a baseline of 68 per cent to a fantastic 78 per cent this year. She has spent many hours working tirelessly to make sure the campaign is delivered to a high standard and that all staff have access to the vaccine in a fun, friendly and accessible manner. Through Liz’s infectious enthusiasm and dedication the trust had a very successful campaign. Liz often worked late into the night collating flu data and even going so far as ironing flu logos onto T-shirts. Winner of #flufighter award for digital and social me- dia: Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. The Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals (SWBH) Occupational Health and Wellbeing Service has embraced digital and social media as an integral part of the flu campaign. Feedback showed that staff struggle to be released from training, so the team developed an online training package for vaccinators. They can take part in training at a suitable time for them, with no disruption to their patient services. Winner of most improved flu fighter campaign: Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust In the 2014/15 flu season, Central London. In the 2014/15 flu season Community Healthcare had a 26.5 per cent uptake, which was the lowest for a community trust in the country. Now, the trust has been ranked highest community trust in London with a 46 per cent uptake. The Trust took a simple approach – make it available and make it visible. With 3,000 staff in nearly 200 sites across London and Hertfordshire it was essential to take the vaccine to teams. The team took on board findings in its internal review of the 2014/15 pro- gramme and started its campaign early in the season. Winner of Best flu fighter team: Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. This campaign