All pharmacy staff involved in the provision of the Flu Vaccination Service should receive appropriate training relevant to the role they will undertake.

Community pharmacy contractors are required to demonstrate that all pharmacists providing the service in their pharmacy have the skills needed to do so.

Pharmacists must complete a Declaration of Competence before providing the service and this declaration must be updated every two years (further details can be found below).

The content of vaccination training

The National Minimum Standards and Core Curriculum for Immunisation Training for Registered Healthcare Practitioners sets the standards and lists the essential topics which should be incorporated into immunisation training for registered healthcare practitioners. Pharmacists who will provide the Flu Vaccination Service must have completed practical training in vaccination that meets these requirements.

There are several organisations offering training and support for the provision of flu vaccination services and contact details can be found below.

Training requirements for 2021/22

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I), working with Public Health England, has confirmed to PSNC that the normal training requirements for pharmacists providing the service are being reinstated for the 2021/22 season.

This means pharmacists who are now due to undertake their refresher face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support (including administration of adrenaline) will need to do so this year.

To support provision of the service in the 2020/21 season and as part of measures to support pharmacy operations during the pandemic, NHSE&I previously agreed that pharmacists who had undertaken vaccination training and were due to repeat face-to-face in 2020 did not need to do this until 2021. The requirement for pharmacists to undertake this training on a three-yearly basis is now reinstated.

The frequency of training

NHSE&I has determined that pharmacists providing the Flu Vaccination Service need to attend face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support (including administration of adrenaline) at least every three years.

A pharmacist who last undertook face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2017 and would have needed to undertake face-to-face training in 2020 but deferred this due to the pandemic, and those who last undertook face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2018, will need to complete their face-to face training in 2021.

Pharmacists are also expected to undertake annual update training each year, to ensure their knowledge stays up to date with changes in practice and guidance. This may involve self-directed learning, using relevant references sources, such as the Green Book and the annual flu letter. It may also include online training which is available from a range of providers.

Further guidance on training requirements

Click on a heading below for more information.

Declaration of Competence (DoC)

Training resources

Training providers

Return to the flu vaccination hub page