{"id":170309,"date":"2025-06-09T13:12:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T13:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/170309\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T13:12:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T13:12:31","slug":"declining-take-up-rates-of-flu-vaccine-among-health-and-social-workers-a-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/170309\/","title":{"rendered":"Declining take-up rates of flu vaccine among health and social workers a concern"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Photo by LuAnn Hunt from Pixabay<\/p>\n

Richard Youle, <\/strong>local democracy reporter<\/p>\n

Fewer health and social care workers are getting vaccinated against \u2018flu in Wales, which one health board said appeared to lead to higher sickness absence.<\/p>\n

Getting the jab is not mandatory but NHS Wales encourages health and social care workers to have it, and numbers do fluctuate within health boards.<\/p>\n

Health agency Public Health Wales said immunisation among staff generally has fallen since 2020-21.<\/p>\n

Just under 33% of Swansea Bay University Health Board staff took up a free flu vaccine offer in 2024-25 compared to 54% and just over 43% in the previous two years.<\/p>\n

Just under 38% of Hywel Dda University Health Board were vaccinated in 2024-25 \u2013 this was 6% more than the previous year. It didn\u2019t hold information for the year before that.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

FOI Request<\/strong><\/p>\n

The two health boards\u2019 figures were provided following a Freedom of Information Request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.<\/p>\n

Vaccine uptake differed among staff groups. At Swansea Bay University Health Board, for example, just under 35% of registered nurses and midwives were immunised in 2024-25 \u2013 around 3% more than medical and dental staff. The highest uptake \u2013 just over 41% \u2013 was among scientific and technical staff.<\/p>\n

At Hywel Dda University Health Board, 54% of medical and dental staff were vaccinated against \u2018flu compared to just under 38% of nurses and midwives last year. The rate among scientific and technical staff was just over 41%.<\/p>\n

The two health boards explained what they did to encourage vaccine uptake, such as out-of-hours and drop-in clinics. Asked if a lower uptake led to increased sickness absence, Hywel Dda said this appeared to be the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe staff group with the highest sickness absence did have the lowest \u2018flu vaccine uptake and the staff with the highest flu vaccine uptake had the lowest sickness absence during the period from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

However, it pointed out that flu sickness absences were recorded along with coughs and colds rather than having their own category.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Insufficient data<\/strong><\/p>\n

Swansea Bay University Health Board said there was insufficient data to accurately link a low uptake with higher sickness absence, but said it could increase the risk of flu transmission and impacts on staffing levels.<\/p>\n

Public Health Wales said flu vaccine take-up among health and social care workers has declined since a peak in 2020-21. Chris Johnson, the agency\u2019s head of vaccine preventable disease programme, said having the jab reduced the risk to people frontline workers cared for and helped keep services resilient during the winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeclining flu vaccination uptake in health and social care staff is therefore a concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Johnson said flu constantly evolved and that strains targeted in vaccines were recommended by the World Health Organisation based on data from around the world.<\/p>\n

\u2018Flu vaccine efficacy, he said, was complicated as it depended on the groups receiving it, such as children or elderly people, the type of virus and the type of vaccine. Mr Johnson said in a normal \u2018flu season vaccines were 40% to 70% effective at preventing hospital admission.<\/p>\n

Nursing union RCN said it encouraged members to have vaccines as part of workplace risk assessments but that they must not be mandatory.<\/p>\n

Nicky Hughes, RCN\u2019s associate director of nursing, said: \u201cSome nursing staff may choose not to have the vaccine for personal reasons, and some may have vaccine fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cNurses and health care support workers constantly report excessive workloads and often don\u2019t even get the opportunity to take a break during their shifts, so NHS organisations need to ensure easy access to vaccines, that they are provided as close to the working environment as possible, and that staff are given dedicated time to attend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors\u2019 union the BMA said flu vaccination was not something it had worked on since a 2020 campaign to improve immunisation uptake.<\/p>\n

The Welsh Government said health and social care workers played a vital role in Wales. A spokeswoman said: \u201cWe encourage NHS staff to take up the \u2018flu vaccine offer. It is free, safe and the best way to safeguard your own health, along with your loved ones and protect the patients in your care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

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\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by LuAnn Hunt from Pixabay Richard Youle, local democracy reporter Fewer health and social care workers are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-170309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114653583531276895","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}