Flu Vaccination – promoting the service to patients
Flu Vaccination – promoting the service to patients
This page contains links to resources which can be used to promote the Flu Vaccination Service to patients.
If community pharmacy contractors decide to develop their own marketing materials to promote the service they must ensure they comply with the requirements of the Terms of Service relating to promotion of services funded by the NHS.
In January 2017, NHS England updated the guidelines on the use of the NHS Identity, including revised guidance for all primary care contractors who are commissioned under a primary care contract. Therefore if contractors choose to use the NHS identity on their marketing materials, they must ensure that the revised guidance is adhered to when producing, updating or replacing designs.
An A-Z style guide of words and phrases about health and the NHS, which aims to make content aimed at patients easy to understand, is available on the NHS website. The NHS website team try to use words on their website that people use themselves when they talk about their problems and when they search for information on the internet.
Community pharmacy teams may wish to refer to the guide when producing their own health content or communication materials.
Click on a heading below for more information.
PSNC resources
Letters
Flu vaccination letter for patients (Microsoft Word)
This letter invites eligible patients to have their NHS flu jab.
Letter from contractors to local care providers (Microsoft Word)
This letter informs local care providers that community pharmacy teams can vaccinate care home and domiciliary care workers.
Evidence of employment letter (Microsoft Word)
Contractors and LPCs can share this template letter with employers of care home and domiciliary care workers which can be used as proof of eligibility for vaccination. The letter is to be used on the employer’s letterhead.
Posters and counter top notice
Flu Vaccination Service poster – general
Flu Vaccination Service poster – aimed at those with long term conditions
Flu Vaccination Service poster – aimed at carers
Flu Vaccination Service poster – aimed at care home and domiciliary care workers
Primary care staff flu vaccination poster (Microsoft Word)
Primary care staff flu vaccination poster (PDF)
Leaflets/flyers
Small flu vaccination flyer
These flyers could be attached to dispensing bags to alert patients to the Flu Vaccination Service.
Flu vaccination patient template leaflet (Microsoft Word)
This leaflet provides information for patients on the NHS flu vaccination.
Social media
Template Flu vaccination service tweets can be used to promote the service on Twitter.
Social media tiles (click to enlarge, right-click to save image) November 2020)
Translated messaging
PSNC has worked with those who are fluent in other languages to create translations of our posters.
- Arabic poster
- Gujarati poster
- Hindi poster
- Polish poster
- Portuguese poster
- Punjabi poster
- Urdu poster
If you can provide additional translations, please contact Melinda Mabbutt, Pharmacy Communications Lead.
Public Health England resources
Leaflets
Public Health England patient leaflet – Flu vaccination: who should have it this winter and why (2021)
The above leaflets are also available in Arabi, Bengali, Cantonese, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Punjab, Romani, Romanian, Somali, Tagalog, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu via the above link.
Public Health England flu leaflet for pregnant women (2017)
Copies of these leaflets can be ordered from the Health and Social Care Publications Orderline or by phoning 0300 123 1002 and quoting the reference numbers on the back pages of the leaflets.
Posters
Public Health England easy read flu poster (2020)
Public Health England flu vaccination poster (2014)
Public Health England flu and pregnancy poster (2014)
Campaign resources
Public Health England ‘ Stay Well This Winter’ campaign resources
Identifying carers eligible for a flu vaccination
PSNC has previously worked with Carers Trust to produce resources to assist pharmacy teams in identifying carers who may be eligible for a flu vaccination. One of these resources is a flu vaccination poster specifically aimed at carers.
PSNC has also produced a small double-sided carer flu flyer which can be attached to prescription bags. This can be used as a conversation starter to encourage carers to have a flu vaccination.
Further information on how pharmacy teams can support carers can be found on our Carer Friendly pharmacy page.
In addition, Carers Trust has produced ‘ten signs that tell community pharmacy teams that someone may be a carer’. These are listed in the box below:
Flu vaccinations for people with learning disabilities
People with learning disabilities are eligible to receive a flu vaccination under the Flu Vaccination Service, as learning disabilities are categorised as a neurological condition. Around 1 in 3 deaths of people with a learning disability are caused by respiratory problems and the number of respiratory related deaths increases during winter. Having the flu jab can help avoid preventable deaths for people with a learning disability during this period.
A person with learning disabilities will have:
- a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn new skills (impaired intelligence); and
- a reduced ability to cope independently (impaired social functioning).
This will have started before adulthood, with a lasting effect on development. This does not include conditions like dyslexia, which cause a specific difficulty with one type of skill but not a wider intellectual impairment.
People with learning disabilities are less likely to get flu if the people around them are also vaccinated; carers and care workers are eligible to receive a free flu vaccination under the Flu Vaccination Service.
Public Health England (PHE) have easy read flu resources, which are aimed at people who have, or care for someone with a learning disability. Pharmacy teams can order these resources to display in their pharmacies (information on how to order these can by found be clicking on the above link).
Suggested actions to improve flu vaccination uptake amongst people with learning disabilities:
- Ensure you continue to talk to people in general about getting a flu jab so people with learning disabilities are aware that they can get an NHS flu vaccination from the pharmacy;
- Let carers of people with a learning disability know that they are also entitled to an NHS flu vaccination to protect the person they are caring for;
- Ensure the eligibility criteria you have displayed (on your website or in the pharmacy) for the NHS Flu Vaccination Service or any patient materials, include learning disabilities as an eligible group;
- Consider the information you display in your pharmacy to promote the NHS Flu Vaccination Service to this eligible group of patients – can it be easily read and understood by all your patients?
- Consider undertaking some learning to enhance your understanding around people with learning disabilities; the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) has a distance learning course available.
- If a person has a learning disability, annotate their PMR to indicate their eligibility for an NHS flu vaccine so you can talk to them about being vaccinated when the service commences again in September.
- Understand your responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) to ensure appropriate consent is captured or where necessary, an appropriate capacity assessment can be carried out.
Other resources
People with learning disabilities and the flu injection – Easy-read information with information for people with learning disabilities, their family, carers and paid supporters (National Development Team for Inclusion).
NHSE&I short video on flu vaccination for people with a learning disability and autistic people
The video covers why it is important eligible people have a flu vaccination, who is eligible for a free vaccine, reasonable adjustments, consent and decision making. A parent of a 16-year-old with a learning disability describes how primary care can support families to make sure their relatives can have their vaccination.
The flu jab for people with learning disabilities – YouTube video showing a patient with learning disabilities having a flu vaccination (NHS England).
Pharmacy and people with learning disabilities: making reasonable adjustments to services – Guidance on how to make reasonable adjustments to help support people with learning disabilities in using pharmacy services (PHE).
Assessing Mental Capacity and Gaining Consent
A flowchart to support assessing mental capacity and gaining consent (Suffolk CCGs’ Safeguarding Team and West Suffolk CCG Medicines Management Team).
Return to the flu vaccination hub page
