Flu season is upon us and that means the flu jab accreditation is becoming increasingly important when booking locum pharmacist shifts. We've provided the background of this service below but we want to make sure that all our locum pharmacists are aware of the following.
Important information regarding shifts and flu jab accreditations
Some companies have stated that the flu jab accreditation is an essential requirement for their advertised shifts. Please look out for this within the shift details and only apply if you have an up-to-date accreditation.
Background
In September 2015 eligible community pharmacies were nationally commissioned for the first time to deliver the annual NHS flu vaccination service. In the first year community pharmacists delivered in excess of 595,000 flu vaccinations; and as a result of the success of the service it was recommissioned in 2016/2017, where community pharmacy delivered in excess of 950,000 vaccinations.
It is likely that the NHS flu vaccination will be commissioned on an ongoing basis and thus all pharmacists who wish to offer this service will need to access appropriate training as defined in the NHS PGD.
Importance of the training
It is important for all pharmacists, including locum pharmacists to be flu vaccine trained; the NHS flu service specification for community pharmacy states that pharmacies that offer the flu vaccination service must offer the service to patients during ALL of their opening hours.
What this means is that if a pharmacy is not able to employ a locum pharmacist that can administer the flu vaccine, then it would be in breach of its NHS contract.
Therefore, all pharmacy contractors that offer the NHS flu vaccination service must only employ locums that are trained to deliver the service (if the locum is the only pharmacist available at the branch.)
Get in contact
If you have any questions regarding a certain shift and the flu jab accreditation requirements contact a member of our helpful team here. They will be able to advise you on any queries. You can view all our available locum pharmacist shifts here.