Tuesday 15 December 2015. This week our school nursing team confirmed that they immunised 4,762 Year 1 and 2 children (5, 6 and 7 year olds) across 80 schools in just six weeks. This was the first time the nasal flu spray immunisation has been offered in England, following a new Department of Health initiative.
Our teams achieved a 65% uptake of the nasal flu spray, far higher than the maximum 51% achieved in pilots in 2014. The teams used a combination of the national Flu Heroes video, t-shirts and a CSH Surrey-designed Flu Heroes certificate to support the campaign (see below).
Chris McDermott, Specialist Practitioner/Practice Development Lead for School Nursing at CSH Surrey says: “The scale of the teams’ efforts cannot be under estimated: the school nurse teams, school immunisation nurses and our child health administrators together coordinated the delivery of parental consent packs, triaged 1000s of consent forms and followed up any parental concerns. They have worked additional hours, started work earlier, have driven miles across CSH Surrey to far flung schools while supporting each other to maintain essential school nurse work, such as safeguarding and secondary school confidential drop-ins. Initially this seemed an impossible task, but they came together as a cohesive, motivated and flexible workforce to achieve an uptake of the nasal flu immunisation that exceeded that anticipated by the Department of Health and Public Health England, meaning nearly two thirds of the area’s 5, 6 and 7 year olds are more protected against catching and spreading flu this winter.”
Pictures of the school nursing teams after finishing their six week campaign
