Big rise in flu jab numbers at Brighton hospital

The number of frontline staff having the flu jab has almost doubled at Brighton’s main hospital trust.

The annual flu vaccination programme began nearly three weeks ago at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and already more than 2,100 staff at the hospital trust have had the jab.

Matthew Kershaw, chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, said that the take-up was “pretty impressive”.

Mr Kershaw said: “In the whole of last year we vaccinated 32 per cent of our staff.”

He said that the aim was for all NHS hospitals to vaccinate at least 75 per cent of frontline staff which includes cleaners and porters as well as most doctors and nurses.

At the trust 75 per cent of frontline staff meant almost 3,500 people, he said.

The trust even has a “jab-o-meter” on the intranet – the internal staff website – to track the number of vaccinated staff.

He encouraged those staff who had not yet had a jab to follow his example and have theirs.