Staff and residents are in high spirits after HC-One scooped the Best Flu Fighter Care Campaign at the annual NHS Flu Fighter Awards.
The Flu Fighter Awards 2019 were held on 25 March and were hosted by Daniel Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers. The awards are an opportunity to reward the hard work of ‘flu fighter’ teams around England who endeavour to keep those in their care safe from the risk of flu infection.
HC-One delivered an impactful and passionate campaign which saw a 68.8 per cent increase in flu jab take up on the previous year, with more than a quarter of HC-One’s 350 care homes achieving a 100 per cent staff and resident vaccination rate.
NHS Flu Fighter judges said of their win: "[HC-One] tackled the challenges of engaging social care staff with the flu vaccination boldly and comprehensively. They demonstrated innovation and lead by example by working in partnership with key organisations as well as utilising multi-level marketing channels to effectively communicate with staff.
“All this activity saw this organisation achieve their most successful flu vaccination campaign yet."
Forming part of their wider ‘Winter Wellbeing’ campaign, HC-One drew on the expertise of colleagues across the business to fully engage with staff at every level of the organisation. From the chief executive to care workers, everyone across the company worked together to encourage vaccination uptake and save lives during this winter.
This included all of HC-One’s senior management team and board participating in the vaccination programme and sharing pictures of themselves doing so through internal communications and on social media.
Alongside dedicated ‘flu champions’, who were on the ground in each home encouraging vaccination, HC-One also had a ‘flu fighter’ helpdesk which gave staff the opportunity to raise questions or concerns anonymously and allow the flu fighter team to offer advice and support.
Mary, a resident at an HC-One home, was an advocate for encouraging staff to get vaccinated, with a video of her explaining why a flu jab was important going down well with all HC-One colleagues.
Karen Johnson, HC-One’s head of clinical quality, says: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the Best Flu Fighter Care Campaign, particularly in our most successful vaccination year to date.
“Ingrained in HC-One’s ethos is the desire to always do the best for our residents. This is how we approached our campaign and why we are so proud all our colleagues made such a concerted effort to maximise take up which has helped save lives this winter.
“HC-One seeks to provide the kindest care in all our homes, and our colleagues are at the very heart of this. Thank you to all who participated, and we hope to achieve even more next winter.”
