The NHS has urged people to take up the jab as hospitals are facing a “flood of flu cases”.
Figures from the UK Health Security Agency show 43 per cent of frontline healthcare workers in Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – which operates hospitals in Basingstoke, Winchester and Andover – had been vaccinated against flu as of the end of November, meaning 57 per cent were either not protected or had not declared their vaccinations.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Hospitals said the figures would now be higher, as many had the jab throughout December.
They said: “We put great emphasise on ensuring that people in our teams are supported to receive their winter vaccinations. We have been encouraging all our staff to get flu vaccinations to help protect themselves, their patients, their families, and one another.
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“Since our vaccination programme started in October, we have positively promoted the flu vaccination to our staff in a number of different ways. To make it as easy as possible for colleagues, we have offered people multiple opportunities to receive the vaccination, including mobile clinics across all our sites and drop-in sessions at different times of the day.
“Some people choose to have their vaccination at their GP or at a pharmacy. As a result, the data published may not account for those individuals.”
Across England, 68 per cent of frontline healthcare workers have not been vaccinated for influenza so far this winter – a jump from 62 per cent last year.
It comes as the national number of patients with flu in hospital beds jumped 41 per cent in a week and continues to be more than four times the number at this point last year, with an average of 2,629 flu patients in beds last week.
In Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, there was an average of 14 patients with flu in the week to December 15, including one in critical care. It was an increase on 10 patients the week prior.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “The NHS has been hit hard with an early festive flu season, putting increased pressure on staff as they prepare for the long winter ahead of us.
He added the NHS has been making it “as easy as possible” for people to get the jab, with vaccination centres in supermarket car parks and football clubs.
Hampshire hospitals (Image: Unknown) SEE ALSO: Hampshire Hospitals Trust makes more than £1m in car parking charges
He warned: “We expect viruses to continue to spread so if you haven’t got your flu jab and are eligible please come forward, and the public should think twice about seeing loved ones if they are seriously unwell.”
Tim Gardner, assistant director of policy at think tank The Health Foundation, said the current winter crisis reflects a “lack of resilience” in the NHS after a decade of austerity.
Patricia Marquis, the Royal College of Nursing’s executive director for England, added: “Right across the NHS beds are full, A&E is facing increasing pressures, while the growing number of flu cases threatens to overwhelm an NHS and workforce already in crisis.
“Once again winter is exposing the true impact of failures to invest in our nursing workforce. As we head toward 2025, the Government must show it values the profession through action and not warm words.”