MENU IVY GROVE SURGERY ivy.gs
Influenza vaccination SHORTCUT ivy.gs/flu Flu vaccination

Flu vaccination

2024/25 campaign

Here you will find details of this year's flu vaccination campaign. Page last updated Oct 10, 2024.

Save the date! Saturday flu clinic dates have been set for October 5th and October 19th - we also have multiple drop-in clinic dates


 

Flu vacc eligibility Skip to Flu clinic dates

Please note that 50-64 year olds with no at-risk clinical conditions are not eligible
 

Download the official information booklet on flu vaccination.

Show eligibility chart

INFORMATION ABOUT ELIGIBILITY

Department of Health guidance forms the main basis for the eligibility criteria shown below. Criteria are subject to change according to latest medical guidance and eligibility for flu jabs is at the discretion of the doctor based on his or her clinical judgement

Eligible for a flu jab at the surgery

Long term lung conditions

  • Asthmatics who take regular inhaled or oral steroids or who have had hospital admissions for asthma
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Bronchiectasis
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Lung fibrosis
  • Pneumoconiosis (Dust)
  •  

Long term heart or circulation conditions

  • Congenital heart disease
  • Heart failure
  • Heart attack, angina and other ischaemic heart disease
  • Peripheral vascular (circulation) disease
  • Rheumatic heart disease
  • Cardiomyopathy
  •  

Long term neurological (brain/nerve) conditions

  • Stroke
  • TIA ('mini-stroke')
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • Dementia
  • Spinal disease or paralysis affecting lung function
  • Myaesthenia
  • Learning disability - download an information leaflet
  •  

Long term kidney conditions

  • Kidney failure
  • Kidney impairment
  • Kidney transplant
  •  

Long term liver conditions

  • Hepatitis
  • Cirrhosis
  • Liver transplant
  •  

Endocrine (hormonal) conditions

  • Diabetic patients on diet only, oral drugs or injections
  • Pituitary gland disorders
  • Addison's disease (lack of natural body steroids)
  •  

Reduced immunity due to medical conditions or drugs

  • No spleen (e.g. due to injury or illness)
  • On long term steroids
  • On cytotoxic or immunity suppressing drugs e.g., rheumatoid arthritis injections, active or recent cancer treatment
  • HIV infection or AIDS
  • Coeliac disease (wheat intolerance)
  • Systemic lupus
  • Certain blood disorders and blood cancers
  • Patient on NHS Shielded List
  •  

Pregnant women

Age or circumstance

  • Anybody aged 65 years and over including those becoming 65 by March 31st 2024 (date of birth on or before March 31st, 1959)
  • Long stay residential care homes patients
  • Carers who are in receipt of a carer's allowance, main carers, or those carers who regularly look after a person whose welfare would be at risk if they (the carer) become ill
  •  
  • Health and social care staff employed by a registered residential care/nursing home or registered domiciliary care provider
  • Health and care staff employed by a voluntary managed hospice provider
  • Health and social care workers employed through Direct Payments and/or Personal Health Budgets (such as personal assistant) to deliver domiciliary care to patients and service users
  • Morbidly obese patients (BMI of 40 or above)
  • Consideration will be given to vaccinating those who are in the same household as someone with a severely suppressed immune system - cases will be considered individually and vaccination is not guaranteed
  • Children aged 2 to 3 years (date of birth between September 1st 2019 and August 31st 2021 inclusive) - download an information leaflet
  •  

Not eligible for a flu jab at the surgery

NB: May be eligible for a flu jab with employer or at school

Frontline health and social care workers to be vaccinated by their employer

  • All frontline health and social care workers employed by other organisations not listed above should receive a vaccination from their employer. It is an employer's responsibility to protect their own staff and patients and ensure the overall safe running of services
  •  

Previous conditions with full recovery or which are now stable

  • Patients who have previously had chest infections with no residual long term problems are not at any more risk of respiratory complications from developing flu than that of the general population
  • Patients who have previously had treatment for cancer and are now either recovered or stable with no active ongoing radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatment
  •  

Age

  • Anybody aged 50-64 years not in a clinically at-risk group
  • Flu jabs are not recommended any babies aged less than 6 months old even in the presence of at-risk conditions
  •  

Children to be vaccinated at school

  • All primary school children from reception year through to Year 6 (aged 4 to 10 as at August 31, 2022) will be invited separately and vaccinated at school - download an information leaflet
  •  
 

Non-eligible patients wishing the flu jab privately

  • Unfortunately, though we would be happy to do so, unfair and restrictive clauses in our contract mean that, unlike pharmacies and supermarkets, we are not permitted to offer flu jabs to any of our non-eligible patients privately - if you wish to challenge this, please contact your MP
  •  
 

Flu clinic dates Skip to Book your jab

 

Drop-in clinic(s) for those unable to come to the main Saturday flu clinics - simply drop in on the day, between 8.00am to 9.00am and 5.00pm to 6.00pm and we will vaccinate you (slots limited):

  • Thurs Oct 3th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Fri Oct 4th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Tues Oct 8th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Thurs Oct 10th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Fri Oct 11th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Tues Oct 15th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Thurs Oct 17th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Fri Oct 18th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Thurs Oct 24th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Fri Oct 25th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Tues Oct 29th DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Thurs Oct 31st DROP IN ON THE DAY
  • Fri Nov 1st DROP IN ON THE DAY

Main flu clinic(s) are as follows - prebooked in advance:

  • Sat Oct 5th PREBOOKED
  • Sat Oct 19th PREBOOKED

Please support your local surgery by having your flu jab with us!

 

Book your jab Skip to Flu clinic procedure

Please do not come to the front desk to book a flu jab

We know you want to ensure you get a flu jab, but please do not come to surgery or front desk unnecessarily, as we need to maintain a service to other patients.

Please note we open booking in stages to maintain service

We have thousands of eligible patients. Therefore we open booking in stages to help maintain capacity and to keep our phone lines open. Please do not be alarmed if you know someone who has received an invite but you have not yet had yours - you will receive your invite in due course.

Please be assured that those unable to use computers, or who do not have relatives or friends who can access computers, will still be able to ring in as usual, but... please do not ring in until you receive an invite!

Once you have received an invite, please choose ONE of the following options to book your flu jab:

1
Self-book your appointment from your invite text

Recommended way to book and very easy to do

1 Your invite text will have a unique booking link. Click this link to access our appointment system. Please note: your unique link expires in 7 days.

2 You then choose your time window and date of your appointment.

3 After booking, please review the flu clinic procedure below.

 
2
Use our online form to request a flu clinic appointment

1 Please complete our online form or type the shortcut ivy.gs/bookjab to go to the form directly. If the form does not open properly below, please click here .

2 We will review your response and text or email you back with an allocated appointment slot.

3 Processing the online form requires back office staff, therefore we do limit the maximum number of form submissions each day so that we have time to process requests and also continue to manage day-to-day clinical work. If you find the form is closed, please try again later as the form will re-open for submissions on a daily basis.

4 After booking, please review the flu clinic procedure below.

 
3
Ring for an appointment if you have received an invite

Please note that the phones are extremely busy, therefore only use this option if you have no other choice

1 Please ring us on 01773 514130 after midday only. Please note that we are extremely busy and therefore the phones are extremely busy and there may be a delay in answering or responding to your call. Please bear with us during this time - we will aim to get round to everybody in due course.

2 After booking, please review the flu clinic procedure below.

 

Flu clinic process Skip to Support your surgery

Please do not attend flu clinic if unwell
 
  • You must not attend if you are unwell, have a fever, have covid symptoms, are self-isolating or are awaiting the result of a covid test - please rebook when you are well or out of self-isolation
  • Please attend alone where this is possible, but we do appreciate the frail may need support from a carer or relative
  • Please arrive at your booked appointment time - try not to arrive too early as this might contribute towards overcrowding
  • You will need to queue with using a one-way route through the building
  • Seating will generally not be available in order to reduce infection control risk - if you think you will struggle with this, please highlight to our reception staff when booking your appointment
  • In inclement weather, if queuing outside the building, you are advised to wear suitable clothing and/or have an umbrella if raining
  • As you approach the clinical rooms, please get your coat/top layers off and arm exposed whilst in the waiting room
  • You will be directed into available clinical rooms in an orderly fashion
  • Once vaccinated, you will leave consultation rooms and exit via the fire exit to the car park in an orderly fashion
  • Please heed the instruction of our staff who are supervising the flow of patients - they are there to ensure everyone's safety
 

Support the surgery Back to Start

Having your flu jab with us helps us to keep going
 
  • We know that other providers like pharmacies and supermarkets offer flu jabs to our patients
  • Like all other GP practices, we rely on funding from each flu jab we give to help cover running costs and to keep the practice viable and maintain services
  • Every single flu jab you have elsewhere means loss of funding for your GP surgery, which puts them even more at risk
  • You might be told by other providers that they are giving flu jabs to help ease your GP's workload - this is more than a little disingenuous - we are more than capable of administering thousands of flu jabs with military precision each year as we have been doing for decades
  • Therefore please support your local surgery by having your flu jab with us
  • By choosing us, you will be vaccinated in a properly equipped consulting room or treatment room by a qualified member of our Nursing or GP Team; who will have access to your medical records and are properly equipped for emergencies
  • By having your flu jab with us, you are ensuring that crucial resources stay with your GP surgery
  • If you are entitled for a free flu jab on the NHS but a provider offers you an earlier jab if you pay them a fee, please be aware that this is completely inappropriate