Influenza: People with Learning Disabilities

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Tuesday 1st October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell]

The noble Lord makes an excellent point, and this is an area of concern, but I should like to reassure him that these are not delays; they are in fact phasing. What we learned from last year is that the identification of which particular flu strain is likely to hit the northern hemisphere is not always clear at the beginning of the season, so we have learned to phase the delivery of the vaccines in case the strain of the influenza virus changes or is not as anticipated. This is interpreted by some pharmacologists as a delay, but in fact it is a pragmatic decision made at the very highest levels.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

My Lords, one of the difficulties of encouraging flu vaccination among vulnerable people is that the rates among NHS staff themselves is disappointingly low. What action are the Government taking this coming winter to encourage NHS staff to take up the vaccine?

[Lord Bethell]

My Lords, it is entirely correct that the struggle to get NHS staff vaccinated is one that concerns the Government greatly. There is an in-depth education programme, and the offer of eligibility for NHS staff has been rolled out to a considerable degree already. Uptake is not as high as we would like it to be, and it remains an area of focus.