Workforce, Staffing and Occupational Health

This page answers some commonly asked questions regarding seasonal flu, specifically in reagard to workforce, staff and OH responsibilities

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Anaphylaxis Training

National minimum standards and core curriculum for vaccination training sets down the required standards and says that a vaccinator ‘should be able to demonstrate competence in recognition and management of anaphylaxis and basic life support‘.

Always remember to:

  • Double check that your vaccinator is Is up to date with requirements for anaphylaxis and basic life support (BLS) training (normally recommended annually or as per employers’ stipulations), and;
  • is aware of how to respond to an immediate serious adverse event following vaccination and knows the whereabouts of anaphylaxis and emergency care equipment and how and when to use it.
  • Consider how equipment is transported for home visits

Anaphylaxis training is available on e-learning for healthcare website.

The RCGP produced advice and guidance for delivering COVID-19.

Enhanced Hours

There is no restriction in the Enhanced Hours specification about the type of appointment that can be offered, it is permissive in terms of the nature of the healthcare professional whom the patient sees and the reason for the consultation. However, the appointments do have to be recurrent and consistent; that is, at the same time each week.

The LMCs do not believe that this means that the appointment type must be recurrent. The intention is to tailor Enhanced Hours to the specific needs of the patient and during flu season obviously there is a need for such appointments. In many cases it would be considered as custom for GP practices to offer ‘flu-clinics’ at times outside core hours, for example, at weekends. This would maximise uptake, improve patient convenience, and avoid some of the disruption that flu clinics could cause during normal hours. It may well be a reasonable to offer a proportion of Enhanced Access to be devoted to flu immunisations for a short timescale, perhaps a few months, during the flu season.

8.5. Vaccination appointments should provide maximum flexibility for patients and should be available at a range of times across the week including, where appropriate, outside of core hours to maximise vaccination uptake to eligible cohorts.

8.6. Where the practice delivers the requirements of this ES collaboratively via its PCN, vaccinations may be offered during network standard hours in accordance with the enhanced access requirements of the network contract directed enhanced service, so long as they do not negatively impact on the core offer or the PCN’s number of available enhanced access appointments. These vaccinations must be delivered in accordance with paragraph 7.3.

7.3. Practices must liaise with their own PCN to ensure that a joined up service is delivered to all PCN linked care homes.

Link to: Service Specification

Infection Control PPE

National infection prevention and control Manual (NIPCM) for England is an online Manual which is updated routinely, it has two primary Chapters which cover:

  • Chapter 1: Standard infection control precautions (SICPs)
  • Chapter 2: Transmission based precautions (TBPs)

Occupational Health (OH)

Generally staff with a clinical condition that makes them eligible for the national seasonal influenza vaccination programme under the NHS, should be encouraged to attend their own GP surgery or community pharmacy to obtain this vaccination. Provision of the vaccination to staff is generally considered for those who do not qualify for the seasonal influenza vaccination under the eligibility criteria for any given year.

Offering frontline patient-facing staff an influenza vaccination forms part of employer OH responsibilities and can be provided either by the employing practice or under other arrangements, examples of which are listed below.

FAQs

No. Where eligible frontline patient-facing staff are administered an influenza vaccination by their employing practice, the practice will NOT be eligible for reimbursement of the influenza vaccine cost nor an IoS payment. Therefore, practices must not record any vaccination administered to staff as part of this occupational health offer in the GP IT clinical system or PoC system in a way that would be extracted for a CQRS payment.

This is with the exception of where the eligible frontline patient-facing staff member is either:

  1. eligible under the NHS influenza programme due to age or clinical risk AND is a registered patient at their employing practice,
  2. or a GP locum.

As the practice will not be eligible for reimbursement of the influenza vaccine cost nor an IoS payment for Occupational Health activity, you could consider:

  • Encouraging staff eligible for the NHS national seasonal influenza vaccination programme to attend their registered GP practice or a community pharmacist to obtain their immunisation.
    • As you may not be aware whether staff are eligible or not; this should be given as generic advice.
  • Frontline staff can be vaccinated at their own practice or at a pharmacy.
  • Heales Medical provides OH assessments, and vaccinations and immunisations for General Practitioners on the Medical Performers List. They also provide advice on exposure to blood borne viruses for all primary care staff (including General Practitioners).
  • You may have commissioned an OH Service for those staff not on the Medical Performers List; if this service offers seasonal flu immunisation, this service could be used.
  • Practices could adapt the national PHE PGD and named nurse(s) within the practice can then vaccinate practice staff; a GP within the practice needs to sign the PGD and thereby assume responsibility for this administration.
  • Practices could purchase vaccination vouchers for staff.

Options for GP practices providing influenza vaccination to staff

  • Practices can adapt the national PHE PGD and named nurse(s) within the practice can then vaccinate practice staff; a GP within the practice needs to sign the PGD and thereby assume responsibility for this administration.
  • An appropriate registered clinician could generate a Patient-Specific Direction (PSD) for each staff member to be immunised.
  • Keep a record of the immunisation.
  • Ensure confidentiality of the staff members clinical information
  • Check CNSGP cover for OH vaccinations
  • Remember the practice will NOT be eligible for reimbursement of the influenza vaccine cost nor an IoS payment for OH vaccinations unless an exemption applies.

Written Instruction for the administration of seasonal ‘flu vaccinations can be seen here

You can find out more about flu vouchers here.

Pending written confirmation from CNSGP for 2026/27.

Surrey and Sussex LMCs has written to CNSGP to ask for confirmation for the 2026/27 years.

Cover for the 2025/26 years can be seen on the GNSGP FAQs page and scope documents.