Hospital staff flu jabs

SIR – Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of NHS England, says he will examine making flu vaccination mandatory for NHS staff (report, January 8). He could more usefully look at the way staff vaccination programmes are delivered in hospitals.

When my health board first offered vaccination for staff, there were few sessions; they were held in places remote from the clinical areas and it became known there were long waits. For members of a theatre team or busy nurses to avail themselves of the opportunity would require up to an hour away, which was impossible in practice. Lots of clerical and managerial staff got vaccinated, but not many front-line staff.

Fortunately the health board cottoned on and trained staff to deliver vaccinations. One year I was vaccinated by one of the theatre nurses during a gap between cases.

Instead of blaming front-line staff, Sir Bruce should find out just how easy it is for an anaesthetist (for example) with no trainee and an overloaded theatre list to obtain flu vaccination. Dr Hilary Aitken

Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire