Top NHS flu jab provider for two years running: Allisons Chemist

"Although the nationally commissioned pharmacy flu service has been running for the last three years, here in Cumbria we had a locally commissioned service for a few years prior to this. This gave us the opportunity to grow our service and learn from previous seasons successes and failures before the national service got going. In our first year we administered 400 vaccinations and have grown the service to where it is now, delivering over 1000 vaccinations for the last four seasons. The local pharmaceutical committee were integral in getting the local service up and running and continue to support contractors with anything from training through to promotional materials and sending notifications to GP surgeries. This support and sharing of experiences and successes has contributed to the region leading the way nationally when it comes to the average number of patients vaccinated per contractor.

We've always had good numbers using our service and have managed to increase the number of people vaccinated each year. I would put our success down to a few basic things, with the most important being our organisation (stock control, patient engagement, paperwork and administration), level of service, knowledge of our patients needs and how we market the service. We operate a 'drop in' service which works well for both our pharmacy and our patients, rather than an appointment service which may work well for others. We market our service using all the channels available to us such as our website, facebook, twitter, local magazine, banners outside the shop, digital screens, staff t-shirts, bag stuffers etc.

We always have two pharmacists, which means that we can provide the service continually without either the vaccination service or any of the other services we provide being impacted upon negatively. We have also vaccinated the residents of a local care home for the last few years, which would not be possible without pharmacist cover. We involve all of the staff in the service as they interact with eligible patients many more times than our pharmacists do during the season. Staff take a keen interest in how the service is going and are an integral part of it's success.

We have also offered a private flu service for a number of years and this year we vaccinated almost 500 patients, which was significantly higher than in previous years. Last season was different to other in that there was a flu scare late in the season, which led to a spike in the numbers of requests from patients who weren't eligible for a free jab.

So there's nothing overly clever required to run a successful service, but with a little organisation and hard work you can set up a service that has the potential to grow each year bringing both professional and financial satisfaction in these challenging times."