Flu Update - November

Please find below an update for Flu services.  
It is important that you read and action points as necessary.   In particular around service evaluations.
  
Service Evaluation

We have noticed that the evaluation response rate is a lot lower than the vaccination rate.  This could be due to evaluations not being entered on to the PharmOutcomes system.

Please could we ask that all evaluations are entered on the system as soon as possible.

This data is very important as it helps us to demonstrate the value of the service to patients so please make sure you are asking patients to fill in the evaluation forms and subsequently enter them on to the system.
 
Currently out of 48 Pharmacies offering the service only 20 have entered evaluation data.

Evaluation forms can be downloaded by clicking HERE. or visiting the northern Pharmacy resource page.
http://www.northernpharmacy.net/nt-gst-s-resources.html

The time you keep your patient for monitoring after the vaccination is an ideal opportunity to ask them to fill it in.Current Uptake

Current data from PharmOutcomes is showing over 2240  NHS Vaccines in Gateshead, South Tyneside & Sunderland area from 48 Pharmacies.

Our neigbouring LPCS are showing 3123  vaccinations from 87 pharmacies in North of Tyne and 8456 from approx 120 pharmacies  in Cumbria.

Please make sure you are entering your data as soon as possible into PharmOutcomes. 

Reports

We have now made reports available on PharmOutcomes so you can see how the service is doing in Gateshead, South Tyneside & Sunderland.  The report gives you a good indication of the service and also shows you your position in terms of vaccination numbers compared to your colleagues.

Please take a look at this and if you need any support please speak to your colleagues on the list  or the LPC.

Don't forget marketing material is available for you to download and use from the Northern Pharmacy website.
http://www.northernpharmacy.net/marketing-material.html

Private Vaccinations

Following my message about private vaccinations being entered on PharmOutcomes I would like to thank those pharmacies that have started entering data and I would urge those that have not yet entered their private data to enter it as soon as they can into the private flu service on PharmOutcomes.

This data along with the data from evaluations and the NHS service will help the LPC  to analysis the flu service locally.

Hard to Reach Patients - At Risk Groups

One of the reasons that Pharmacy was commissioned to provide flu services was to reach those hard to reach patients at risk who are eligible for a NHS vaccine.

The hope is to see the vaccination uptake of those patients increase on previous years.  

Many of these patients visit your pharmacies and so we ask that they are targeted so that the Area team can see the difference that Pharmacy makes.

Those groups are stated in the SLA however for your convenience are listed below.

• all pregnant women (including those women who become pregnant during the flu season) 

• people with a serious medical condition such as: chronic (long-term) respiratory disease, such as severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or bronchitis

• chronic heart disease, such as heart failure

• chronic kidney disease at stage 3, 4 or 5 

• chronic liver disease 

• chronic neurological disease, such as Parkinson’s disease or motor neurone disease 

• diabetes 

• a weakened immune system due to disease (such as HIV/AIDS) or treatment (such as cancer treatment) 

• people living in long-stay residential care homes or other long-stay care facilities where rapid spread is likely to follow introduction of infection and cause high morbidity and mortality. This does not include, for instance, prisons, young offender institutions, or university halls of residence

• people who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an older or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill