Gwent NHS plans easier staff flu jabs after uptake stays below half
Archive article. Published on Thu 1 Oct, 20:08. Conditions may have changed since this reporting.
Staff across Aneurin Bevan University Health Board are to be offered roaming vaccination provision and walk-in access as the NHS organisation prepares for winter. Its September board papers show staff flu vaccination uptake reached 46.45% in 2025/26, compared with 37.31% the previous season. That is an improvement, but still fewer than half of staff in the reported measure.
Making vaccination easier to reach
The winter preparedness plan sets out trained vaccinators, peer champions and roaming provision, alongside walk-in access at vaccination centres. The aim is to increase uptake among frontline staff. A separate action in the papers describes an enhanced training programme for vaccinators, including video learning and self-assessment. Staff are to be able to attend designated vaccination centres without a pre-booked appointment.
What last winter’s figures show
The two staff percentages describe completed seasons, not uptake in the campaign now getting under way. The figures below are health-board totals; they do not measure vaccination at the Grange hospital alone.
Cover Wales chart from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s September 2026 papers, Appendix 1, page 8. Scale runs from 0% to 100%.
Photo: Cover WalesOriginal photographCC BY 4.0
The next measure is delivery
The board’s plan says uptake will be reported to its Vaccination Operational Group. Publishing a plan does not establish how many staff will use the new arrangements or what this winter’s final uptake will be. The paper records improvement without claiming the job is finished. The test for the coming season is whether easier access turns into a higher recorded vaccination rate.