Nwicker60
08-Oct-12, 14:22
NHS staff receiving their vaccine jags
STAFF from across NHS Highland are receiving their flu vaccinations as part of the NHS Highland flu vaccination programme, which started last week.
All staff, particularly those who have direct contact with patients, are being encouraged to get the vaccine. Consultant medical staff are also being asked to encourage their colleagues including junior medical staff to attend vaccination clinics.
Dr Ken Oates, Consultant in Public Health Medicine for NHS Highland, hopes that staff will take the opportunity to be vaccinated.
He said: “Staff suffering from flu, or even just incubating flu, can unintentionally pass this on to others, including the patients they are looking after, which we are obviously very keen to avoid. We are therefore making every effort to make flu vaccination as easy and accessible to our staff as possible over the coming weeks.
“Flu is not a minor illness.It makes people feel extremely unwell for two to three days and full recovery normally takes a week. Even fit healthy people can develop more serious consequences and can require hospitalisation.
“By having the vaccination our staff will not pass on the virus unintentionally to their patients and they will also be protecting their own health and that of their family.”
Vaccination clinics are being run across Highland allowing staff to go in when it is convenient for them. Most areas are also running a trolley service where the vaccinators go into wards and clinical areas and vaccinate staff who are unable to come to them.
Dr Oates said: “We want our staff and patients to have a healthy, trouble-free winter.”
STAFF from across NHS Highland are receiving their flu vaccinations as part of the NHS Highland flu vaccination programme, which started last week.
All staff, particularly those who have direct contact with patients, are being encouraged to get the vaccine. Consultant medical staff are also being asked to encourage their colleagues including junior medical staff to attend vaccination clinics.
Dr Ken Oates, Consultant in Public Health Medicine for NHS Highland, hopes that staff will take the opportunity to be vaccinated.
He said: “Staff suffering from flu, or even just incubating flu, can unintentionally pass this on to others, including the patients they are looking after, which we are obviously very keen to avoid. We are therefore making every effort to make flu vaccination as easy and accessible to our staff as possible over the coming weeks.
“Flu is not a minor illness.It makes people feel extremely unwell for two to three days and full recovery normally takes a week. Even fit healthy people can develop more serious consequences and can require hospitalisation.
“By having the vaccination our staff will not pass on the virus unintentionally to their patients and they will also be protecting their own health and that of their family.”
Vaccination clinics are being run across Highland allowing staff to go in when it is convenient for them. Most areas are also running a trolley service where the vaccinators go into wards and clinical areas and vaccinate staff who are unable to come to them.
Dr Oates said: “We want our staff and patients to have a healthy, trouble-free winter.”