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Flu Vaccination Advanced Service
The 2021/22 service has now commenced from 1st September 2021.
The annual flu letter was published on 17th July 2021 (see here).
Both the service specification and PGD for the Community Pharmacy Flu Vaccination Advanced Service 2021/22 are available here.
A National Protocol has also been confirmed to support the flu vaccination programme for 2021/22. Its publication enables contractors who are seeking to make use of the skill mix flexibilities allowed under the protocol to consider provision of flu vaccinations via this legal framework as an alternative to the PGD. The National Protocol is available here. Contractors should read the service specification and Patient Group Direction / national protocol (as appropriate) before providing the service.
Please refer to the PSNC Flu Vaccination Service hub for all the latest information and updates.
Recommended Vaccines for 2021/22
On 1st April 2021 NHSE&I published updated guidance on flu vaccines for 2021/22 – see here.
This guidance, and the annual flu letter for 2021/22, outline the vaccines agreed for use for the 2021/22 flu progamme.
In summary the recommended vaccines are:
- For those aged 65 years and over – the adjuvanted quadrivalent influenza vaccine (aQIV), with the cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc) or the recombinant quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVr) offered if aQIV is unavailable.
- For under-65s (including those at risk, pregnant women and 50 to 64 year old cohort) - QIVc or QIVr, as an alternative if these are not available, the egg-grown quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVe) should be considered for use
Other Briefing Documents and Resources
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Chapter 19 of the Immunisation Against Infectious Disease, “The Green Book”, can be downloaded here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/influenza-the-green-book-chapter-19.
- Annual Flu Letter 2021
- PSNC Guidance on the Flu Vaccination Advanced Service 2021-22 (this includes a helpful checklist for the service – see annex 1)
- Ovalbumin Content of Flu Vaccines for 2021-22
- Flu vaccines poster: 2021 to 22 flu season
Pharmacy Team Resources
This PSNC page contains additional information and resources for pharmacy teams.
Guidance on the Use of Personal Protective Equipment
Please refer to PSNC information here.
Training Requirements for the National Flu Vaccination Service
Face to face training (to cover both injection technique and basic life support training, including administration of adrenaline for anaphylaxis) is required every THREE years. See the Flu Vaccination - Training Requirements and Resources page on the PSNC site here for further information, which includes a list of possible training providers.
The Vaccination Services Declaration of Competence (DoC) must also be completed and this is required every TWO years.
In addition to completing the Vaccination Services DoC every two years, pharmacists providing the service have a professional responsibility to complete an annual update. This annual refresher training can be self-directed learning and need not be face-to-face training. This could, for example, include undertaking the assessment modules of an immunisation e-learning programme and doing/re-doing the necessary modules to refresh knowledge, reading through the ‘Information for healthcare practitioner’ documents on the PHE website, listening to any available webcasts and reading recently published articles on immunisation relevant to the area of practice. There is no stipulated way to do the annual update training but as a vaccinating pharmacist there is a professional obligation to ensure skills and knowledge are up to date.
For further information please refer to the PSNC page on training requirements for flu here. If you need any help with anything, please contact Lisa Meeks (lisa@cpwy.org) who will be happy to help.
Service Delivery Resources
NHS Patient Leaflet - The Flu Vaccination 2021-22 (who should have it and why) Note - hard copies of this leaflet can be ordered free of charge. Translated versions, in several different languages, are also available. See here.
British Sign Language video available here.
Patient Leaflet - PHE Information for People with a Learning Disability (Easy Read)
Poster - PHE Flu Learning Disability Easy Read
Patient Video for People with Learning Disabilities
Key facts about flu and flu vaccination - to support discussions with patients
Myth Buster - to support discussions with patients
Identifying carers for flu vaccination
CPWY Flu Poster - Heart Condition
Claiming Payment
All payments must be claimed via the NHSBSA Manage Your Service (MYS) portal; no paper-based claims process is available for the service. This year PharmOutcomes will be able to pre-populate claim information in MYS each month, so that the contractor then just needs to login to MYS at the start of the following month to confirm that the information is correct and then to submit the claim.
Claims will be accepted by NHSBSA within six months of administration of the vaccination or by 31st August 2021, whichever date is earlier, in accordance with the usual Drug Tariff claims process. Later claims will not be processed. See PSNC page on claiming payments here if further information is required.
Flu Collaboration
Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire regularly contacts the Local Medical Committees (LMCs) within West Yorkshire, and as in previous years, we have offered to collaborate with the LMCs in producing a joint LMC LPC flu letter to encourage general practices and community pharmacies to work together in supporting each other’s flu campaign.
Leeds
CPWY and Leeds LMC Joint Flu Letter 2021/22
Wakefield
CPWY and Wakefield LMC Joint Flu Letter 2021/22
Frequently Asked Questions
The PSNC website is a great source of information and resources for pharmacy teams. This includes a useful Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers page which are updated on an ongoing basis:
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Last Updated: 8th September 2021