Agenda item

The Committee received a joint report from the Director of Public Health that provided information and assurance on the progressing work of the County Durham and Darlington Flu Prevention Board to increase the uptake of the flu vaccination in the local area (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Consultant in Public Health advised that the evaluation carried out had shown that the take up was for low the eligible groups however the board would continue to meet throughout the year to oversee the key actions.

The Director of Public Health added that this area of work forms part of her statutory responsibility for health protection and that the service had a commitment to increasing the uptake.

Councillor Bell asked if all staff were eligible for the vaccine and was advised that it was aimed at a targeted group of people who provided direct up close and personal care.  The Director of Public Health added that the uptake of this group of staff would need to increase before they looked at a wider group of staff.

Members were advised that staff were informed of the flu vaccinations by having conversations and publicising on the intranet.

Discussions took place about whether the vaccine should be mandatory and the Director of Public Health said that it would not be ethical to enforce this.

Councillor Temple welcomed the actions of the board but said that it was important to track progress and find out the cost benefit.  He said that it would be helpful to be able to compare figures between the county average and each area.  The Consultant in Public Health informed him that they were working with colleagues in the CCG and health practices to look at the variances between patient groups.  He explained that the data received was at practice level but that there would be multiple counting across certain groups of people.

The Director of Public Health added that they were commissioned by NHS England and the data was received from them however she would look at how to report back to members in future so that the data was meaningful. 

Councillor Crute agreed that it would be helpful to request further details on the data to enable monitoring.

Resolved:

That the report be noted and further work be undertaken by Public Health to enable meaningful data to be reported back to the Committee in future reports.