Recently the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) announced that pharmacists who administer flu vaccines will no longer need to undertake face-to-face refresher training on vaccine technique every three years.
Pharmacists will however be able to work on their injection technique and knowledge of basic life support periodically, PSNC confirmed following the publication of NHS England and NHS Improvement’s (NHSE&I) service specification for the 2022/23 flu season.
It will now be up to contractors and vaccinators “to consider when it would be appropriate to attend refresher training”, it said.
They can also assess “if [the] ongoing competence of an individual vaccinator can be evidenced without the need for face-to-face training”, for instance by looking at how regularly they administer vaccines and at the number of doses they inject.
Competency assessment tool
Pharmacy teams can also use the flu vaccinator competency assessment tool to self-assess or help demonstrate their competency as vaccinators.
The change in training requirements will align pharmacy with the current vaccination training requirements for nurses and doctors, according to PSNC.
Flu vaccination season 2022
The 2022/23 flu vaccination season will start on September 1.