Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust is achieving some of England’s highest rates of staff seasonal flu vaccinations this winter.

This is good news for patients, who can be sure that staff are going the extra mile to protect themselves, colleagues, service users, friends and family against the flu bug this winter.

The Trust is in the top three performing mental health Trusts in England for the flu vaccination uptake. National figures released by Public Health England show that the Care Trust has vaccinated  52.5% of frontline staff from 1 September 2016 to 31 October 2015.

Since the figures were collected the Trust has vaccinated more frontline staff, bringing the current total to 68%. This puts the Trust on-track in their aim of exceeding 75% uptake by the end of December.

Samantha Moorehouse, Infection Prevention Lead at the Care Trust, said: “Many of the people in our  teams come into contact with daily are vulnerable, whether that’s young children, older people or people with long term conditions if they get flu the infection can bring with it complications that can be severe and sometimes even fatal.

“By having the vaccine it helps to keep patients safe, and helps staff to remain healthy and fit to work and also protects colleagues and their loved ones.”

The Care trust is encouraging more staff to have their vaccine by supporting #jabathon, a campaign that encourages NHS staff to share their reasons for getting the flu jab. Here’s why some staff at the Trust had their vaccine in hope to inspire others to do the same.

Julie Amirouche, Health Facilitation Nurse within learning disability services, said: “I want to help prevent the spread of flu.”

Jessica Morton, nurse, commented why she had the vaccine. She said: “To protect my patients and unborn baby.”