The ceremony, held 25 March at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, was hosted by Daniel Mortimer, Chief Executive of NHS Employers, and celebrated the achievements of flu teams and organisations in promoting the vaccine to frontline health and social care staff.
Nominated for both ‘Most Creative’ and ‘Best Team’, vaccinators at DBTH were awarded the latter honour, with the judges commending the Trust’s multi-disciplinary approach and emphasis on team working while displaying brilliant leadership throughout.
Each year, the Trust’s flu campaign is spearheaded by a dedicated team of vaccinators made up of Occupational Health and Wellbeing practitioners and hospital clinicians of all grades and levels. In 2018, the team also included Chief Executive, and registered nurse, Richard Parker OBE, as well as Moira Hardy, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals, both of whom administered the vaccine to a number of patient-facing colleagues.
Influenza (or flu) is a highly infectious virus and vaccinating staff against the illness is vitally important in keeping flu levels down in hospitals, helping to protect vulnerable patients.
In order to help promote the availability of the jab, each year the Trust takes on cinematic inspiration, with this year’s flu vaccination campaign featured Disney Pixar’s ‘The Incredibles’. Dubbed the ‘Flucredibles’, vaccinators adopted a decidedly heroic posture, complete with face masks and their own costumes, making them highly recognisable within the Trust, alongside a wide-range of posters and other materials.
So popular was this year’s campaign that the Trust ran out of vaccine after just three days, when more than 1,600 clinicians opted to get their vaccination. In all, when stocks were available, the team managed to reach the national target of 75% in just 21 days, 38% faster than last year’s efforts, with 97% of all doctors opting for the jab, alongside almost 80% of all nurses at the Trust. In all, over 4,000 vaccines have been given to date.
Richard Parker OBE, Chief Executive at the DBTH, said: “This is fantastic achievement for the Trust and our ‘Flucredible’ vaccination team and one that evidences our commitment to patient safety.
“The team went above and beyond this year in order to protect patients and colleagues alike from the flu and I am so pleased that they have been recognised in this way. The enthusiasm for this year’s flu campaign outstripped our, already high, expectations and I want to thank everyone involved, particularly our vaccination team who have been tireless in their efforts.”
The awards followed a day long flu fighter conference, which saw a packed programme including presentations from experts, workshops on a range of topics and opportunities for flu leads to share ideas, challenges and best practice.
The Trust is now busy developing their next flu vaccination campaign which will begin in earnest in September 2019.