Quality standard
Quality statement 4: Vaccinating health and social care staff
Quality statement 4: Vaccinating health and social care staff
Quality statement
Health and social care staff who have direct contact with people using services receive flu vaccination from their employer.
Rationale
Vaccinating front-line health and social care staff reduces the risk of transmission of flu to vulnerable people and can protect staff from the effects of flu. It is the responsibility of employers to enable staff who have direct contact with people using services to have flu vaccination, including making vaccination accessible to shift workers and people who work remotely.
Quality measures
Structure
a) Evidence of local arrangements to make flu vaccination available to health and social care staff who have direct contact with people using services.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, staff health policy.
b) Evidence of local arrangements to use audit and monitoring systems to plan flu vaccine delivery to health and social care staff.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, staff health policy.
Outcome
a) Flu vaccine uptake rates for healthcare staff who have direct contact with people using services.
Data source: Public Health England Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in GP patients annual data.
b) Flu vaccine uptake rates for social care staff who have direct contact with people using services.
Data source: Local data collection, for example, employment records.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Employers of health and social care staff (such as NHS organisations, independent contractors, local authorities, and private and voluntary sector employers of health and social care staff) ensure that they use a multicomponent approach to make flu vaccination available to health and social care staff who have direct contact with people using services. They ensure that their staff know about their eligibility, and the benefits and importance of vaccination for different staff groups. They use various means to encourage and enable uptake and make vaccination accessible to all front-line staff, including those working shifts and working remotely. To enable ease of access to vaccination services, employers use peer vaccinators from occupational health services when available.
Health and social care staff who have direct contact with people using services (such as nurses, midwives, doctors, pharmacists, health visitors, clinical support staff, social care practitioners and care workers) are aware that they can have flu vaccination, and know how this benefits the people they care for, their co-workers, their families and themselves.
Commissioners (such as local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and NHS England) commission services that provide flu vaccination to the front-line health and social care staff they employ. They specify that leaders of services prioritise flu vaccination programmes for their staff.
Source guidance
Flu vaccination: increasing uptake NICE guideline NG103 (2018), recommendation 1.7.1
Definitions of terms used in this quality statement
Direct contact with people using services
Providing care or assessments in person in GP practices, hospitals, community-based care services (to people in their own homes), or in residential care homes or other long-stay care facilities. [Adapted from NICE's guideline on flu vaccination: increasing uptake, recommendation 1.7.1]
Employer of health and care staff
An organisation that employs health or social care staff. This includes NHS organisations, independent contractors, local authorities, and private and voluntary sector employers of social care staff. [Adapted from NICE's guideline on flu vaccination: increasing uptake recommendation 1.7.1]