- Flu jab uptake among staff slumps, despite NHSE encouragement
- Cases and hospitalisations soaring to highest so far this winter
- Vaccination coverage among frontline staff highly variable between regions and trusts
Some 300,000 fewer frontline NHS staff had the winter flu vaccine last year than in 2019 and 2020, with huge variation in uptake among trusts, HSJ analysis shows.
Both NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency have issued their latest uptake figures, using different methods, but both show a drop on previous years.
UKHSA figures, which go back more than 20 years, show that as of the end of December 2023, there were 283,000 fewer vaccines given than in 2020, when uptake peaked due to high concern about the first covid “winter wave”.
There were also 283,000 fewer given than at the end of 2019 – and the number of frontline NHS staff has since grown significantly – meaning the uptake rate has plummeted from 68.5 per cent at the end of 2019 to 42 per cent at the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, the NHSE operational figures, which run up to the end of last month, show uptake at 44.3 per cent, with significant variation between regions.
Only one region – the South West – has vaccinated more than half of its frontline staff and the rate in London, the poorest performing, is below 40 per cent:
It comes as flu takes a big toll on health services: NHSE said 2,226 patients with flu were in hospital each day last week — up 70 per cent on December, and 75 per cent higher than the same week last year. UKHSA monitoring suggests community flu infections, and admissions, are continuing to climb, to a later and wider – but likely lower – peak than the very high rates seen in December 2022.
Both the UKHSA and NHSE figures show huge variation in flu vaccine uptake between trusts, ranging between more than two-thirds of staff jabbed, and just a tenth (see table below for full NHSE and UKHSA figures).
However, several trusts with the lowest rates, approached by HSJ, have disputed both sets of figures.
University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust – the lowest at just 11.9 per cent vaccinated on NHSE data – cited internal figures showing 42.9 per cent uptake as of January.
South East Coast Ambulance Service FT, which is second lowest in the NHSE data at just 14.1 per cent, said its internal figure was 68.8 per cent.
The UKHSA figures show Essex Partnership University FT on the lowest rate, at 10.7 per cent. The trust did not provide its own figures to HSJ but claimed UKHSA figures excluded those vaccinated at their own GP practice, and were incomplete until final submissions in March. The UKHSA’s own analysis shows reported rates rarely increase much after December.
The Dudley Group FT said NHSE’s figure of 30.1 per cent was correct and disputed UKHSA’s 18.1 per cent, which would put it among the lowest.
An NHSE spokesperson said: “The NHS has continued to make it as easy as possible for frontline staff to get vaccinated against flu and covid, with more sites than ever before offering the vaccines this year and more people being vaccinated for both in the same appointment, making it more convenient.”
It comes amid a wider vaccination crisis, with lower uptake than pre-covid across a range of programmes, including MMR, which has enabled a major upsurge in measles outbreaks.
The London, North West and Midlands regions were also approached for comment.
| Trust | Uptake (NHSE) | Uptake (UKHSA) |
|---|---|---|
| University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 11.9% | 31.8% |
| South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | 14.1% | 72.1% |
| Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust | 25.9% | 16.8% |
| Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust | 26.1% | 19.3% |
| Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust | 27.8% | 28.0% |
| North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | 28.7% | 27.7% |
| Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust | 28.8% | 10.7% |
| East London NHS Foundation Trust | 28.8% | 27.9% |
| Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust | 28.9% | 29.5% |
| North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust | 29.4% | - |
| The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust | 30.1% | 18.3% |
| East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust | 30.1% | 34.2% |
| Barts Health NHS Trust | 30.5% | - |
| Bolton NHS Foundation Trust | 31.1% | 25.2% |
| Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust | 31.3% | 30.7% |
| The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 31.5% | - |
| Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust | 31.9% | - |
| South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust | 31.9% | - |
| North East London NHS Foundation Trust | 32.1% | 30.3% |
| Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | 32.6% | - |
| South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust | 32.7% | 30.8% |
| Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust | 32.8% | 17.6% |
| Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust | 33.2% | 36.1% |
| Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust | 34.4% | 34.1% |
| South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | 34.5% | 25.6% |
| Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust | 35.1% | - |
| Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 35.3% | - |
| Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust | 35.9% | 24.0% |
| Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 36.5% | 33.8% |
| West London NHS Trust | 36.5% | 23.1% |
| Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust | 36.8% | - |
| Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust | 36.9% | 35.6% |
| Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust | 37.0% | - |
| University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust | 37.3% | 37.1% |
| Whittington Health NHS Trust | 37.4% | 37.9% |
| University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust | 37.5% | 26.0% |
| University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust | 37.6% | 31.1% |
| Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 37.6% | 33.6% |
| Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 37.7% | 27.0% |
| Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 37.9% | 53.3% |
| Airedale NHS Foundation Trust | 37.9% | - |
| King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 38.2% | 35.9% |
| East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | 38.3% | 35.9% |
| Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust | 38.3% | 27.0% |
| Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust | 38.3% | - |
| Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust | 38.5% | 26.0% |
| London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust | 38.5% | 42.7% |
| Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 39.0% | 36.6% |
| Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust | 39.2% | 24.5% |
| Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 39.2% | 38.6% |
| Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust | 39.4% | 24.6% |
| The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | 39.4% | 38.2% |
| Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | 39.6% | 36.8% |
| Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust | 39.6% | - |
| Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 39.7% | 62.6% |
| Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | 39.7% | 29.8% |
| Stockport NHS Foundation Trust | 39.9% | 28.3% |
| Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | 40.3% | 29.0% |
| Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | 41.1% | 40.7% |
| South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 41.2% | 52.4% |
| Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 41.3% | 33.8% |
| Isle of Wight NHS Trust | 41.3% | 36.3% |
| Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust | 41.4% | 36.4% |
| Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 41.5% | 32.6% |
| Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 41.7% | 32.0% |
| Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust | 41.7% | 41.7% |
| Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 41.7% | 27.4% |
| Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 41.7% | 60.1% |
| Wye Valley NHS Trust | 42.0% | 35.3% |
| Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust | 42.1% | 39.8% |
| Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 42.1% | 37.8% |
| Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 42.2% | 43.9% |
| North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust | 42.3% | 47.5% |
| Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust | 42.4% | 32.2% |
| Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 42.5% | 41.3% |
| Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 42.5% | 49.3% |
| York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 42.6% | 32.1% |
| Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust | 42.6% | - |
| Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | 42.6% | 33.6% |
| Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust | 42.7% | 30.8% |
| Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust | 42.7% | 42.3% |
| Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 42.8% | 52.6% |
| Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust | 42.8% | 42.9% |
| Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust | 42.8% | 39.9% |
| University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust | 42.9% | 37.7% |
| Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 42.9% | 40.0% |
| Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust | 43.2% | 46.9% |
| London Ambulance Service NHS Trust | 43.5% | 32.4% |
| University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust | 43.7% | 37.3% |
| East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust | 43.9% | - |
| East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 43.9% | 37.7% |
| Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 43.9% | - |
| Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 44.0% | 44.6% |
| Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust | 44.0% | 46.4% |
| The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 44.4% | 58.9% |
| The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust | 44.4% | - |
| Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust | 44.6% | 44.7% |
| East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust | 45.1% | - |
| Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | 45.2% | 36.9% |
| Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust | 45.2% | 36.7% |
| Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust | 45.4% | 43.6% |
| Medway NHS Foundation Trust | 45.5% | - |
| South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 45.6% | 46.6% |
| Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust | 45.6% | 52.5% |
| University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 45.7% | 44.8% |
| Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust | 45.8% | 50.6% |
| Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust | 45.9% | 33.1% |
| The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust | 45.9% | 39.5% |
| Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 46.1% | 38.7% |
| Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust | 46.1% | 26.8% |
| Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 46.2% | 38.9% |
| St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 46.4% | 49.0% |
| Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | 46.7% | 35.5% |
| Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust | 46.7% | 43.1% |
| Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust | 46.7% | 32.8% |
| University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | 46.9% | 43.2% |
| Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | 47.0% | 35.8% |
| Croydon Health Services NHS Trust | 47.3% | 44.3% |
| Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust | 47.4% | 30.5% |
| Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust | 47.4% | 38.3% |
| Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | 47.4% | 32.3% |
| The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust | 47.5% | 46.3% |
| Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 47.5% | 51.2% |
| University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust | 47.6% | 48.2% |
| South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust | 47.6% | - |
| Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 47.7% | 54.0% |
| Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust | 48.1% | 38.7% |
| Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 48.2% | 48.0% |
| Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust | 48.4% | - |
| United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust | 48.4% | 35.9% |
| The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust | 48.4% | 45.9% |
| Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 48.5% | 42.9% |
| Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust | 48.9% | 49.3% |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust | 49.0% | 46.9% |
| Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust | 49.1% | 47.0% |
| Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust | 49.1% | - |
| Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 49.2% | 43.2% |
| Devon Partnership NHS Trust | 49.2% | 49.0% |
| Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 49.3% | 0.0% |
| Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 49.4% | 41.1% |
| Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 49.5% | 55.0% |
| Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust | 49.6% | 42.4% |
| North Bristol NHS Trust | 49.8% | - |
| Warrington and Halton Hospitals Teaching NHS Foundation Trust | 49.9% | 45.1% |
| Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust | 49.9% | 28.7% |
| West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 49.9% | 40.8% |
| The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust | 50.1% | 46.9% |
| James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 50.3% | 40.7% |
| Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust | 50.7% | 49.8% |
| West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | 50.7% | 34.5% |
| Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 50.9% | 49.1% |
| Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 50.9% | 46.2% |
| Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust | 51.0% | 61.9% |
| County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | 51.1% | 70.3% |
| The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 51.2% | 47.6% |
| South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust | 51.4% | 55.6% |
| Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 51.7% | 66.7% |
| Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust | 51.7% | 51.8% |
| Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust | 51.8% | - |
| Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust | 52.0% | 43.2% |
| University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust | 52.1% | 51.8% |
| Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust | 52.1% | 52.0% |
| North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | 52.1% | 49.1% |
| George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust | 52.3% | - |
| Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 52.4% | 53.2% |
| Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 52.6% | 43.8% |
| University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust | 52.7% | 46.6% |
| University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust | 52.8% | - |
| Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | 53.0% | 68.4% |
| Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust | 53.0% | 52.6% |
| Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 53.1% | 53.1% |
| Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 53.3% | 33.0% |
| South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust | 53.3% | 50.1% |
| North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | 53.4% | 71.1% |
| Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust | 53.4% | - |
| North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust | 53.6% | 48.0% |
| Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust | 53.6% | 41.4% |
| Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 53.8% | 45.2% |
| Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 53.9% | 56.5% |
| Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 53.9% | 55.6% |
| Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust | 54.2% | 48.6% |
| Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 54.3% | - |
| Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 54.6% | 51.8% |
| East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust | 54.7% | - |
| Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust | 54.8% | 52.9% |
| Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust | 55.2% | 49.6% |
| Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 55.4% | 36.2% |
| The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust | 55.4% | 51.4% |
| North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust | 55.7% | 57.1% |
| Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 56.1% | - |
| Solent NHS Trust | 56.3% | 61.1% |
| Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust | 56.3% | 49.5% |
| East Cheshire NHS Trust | 57.0% | 42.8% |
| Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 57.3% | - |
| Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 57.4% | 67.1% |
| Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust | 58.0% | 58.4% |
| Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust | 58.0% | 54.5% |
| Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust | 58.2% | 48.4% |
| The Christie NHS Foundation Trust | 58.2% | 49.9% |
| The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 58.3% | 67.7% |
| Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | 58.3% | 57.2% |
| Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust | 59.1% | 57.2% |
| Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust | 59.7% | 54.9% |
| East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust | 62.2% | 73.4% |
| Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust | 62.3% | - |
| Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust | 63.6% | 65.3% |
| Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust | 64.2% | 59.4% |
| West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust | 64.8% | 61.2% |
| Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust | 67.0% | 62.2% |
| Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 67.6% | 66.6% |
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NHSE data; UKHSA data
Source Date
January 24
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