East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) has been named the top NHS trust in the UK for tackling flu for the second time in three years.

The Trust is celebrating following the announcement that they are the top acute trust in the country for staff flu vaccination uptake.

Almost 95 per cent of staff took up the vaccine – an increase of over one percent – and

Kevin McGee, chief executive at ELHT said: “I am delighted that over the last few years we have created a strong and genuine culture of awareness and individual responsibility, which has led to over 7,500 of our workforce taking up the vaccination.

“Our staff recognise the important part they play in protecting their patients, their colleagues and themselves.”

The Trust has been identified as one of the standout trusts in the UK and has supported other organisations to plan their own flu campaigns.

Every winter, NHS organisations across the county face outbreaks of seasonal flu and hospitals are often overwhelmed by the number of patients being admitted.

ELHT said it believes the flu vaccination programme for its staff is one of the most important ways of maintaining safe care across the east of the county.

This year, with the presence of coronavirus, the Trust said it will be even more essential for the wider community to take up the seasonal flu vaccine.

An ELHT spokesperson said: “The aim of the flu programme is to reduce the health impact of flu through effective monitoring, prevention and treatment.

“ELHT’s seasonal flu campaign is carefully planned each year, taking into account the latest information received from national and international experts and data.

“The vaccination programme has been shown to be extremely effective in the ‘prevention’ element of the virus.”

Planning is already under way for the 2020 Flu campaign, with the aim to improve on last year’s uptake.