Pharmacists who haven’t previously trained to undertake immunisations have been asked to undertake full training course before the advent of flu vaccination period which starts from September.
Those who have undertaken the vaccinations training previously and are due to undertake face-to-face training this year are adviced to move for an online training programme, followed by a face-to-face training next year.
Following Covid-19 pandemic, Public Health England aims to update the HEE flu e-learning programme which is available to all, free of charge at e-LfH portal for the 2020-21 flu season.
Those pharmacists who previously received immunisation training or had a role in immunisation in the past can undertake the assessment session before they undertake the whole knowledge session to see if there are gaps in their knowledge where they feel less confident.
Pharmacists can also use the knowledge and skills competency assessment tool or similar assessment tools to identify the areas they need further information or training on immunisation.
As of September 1 2020, anyone who is due to undertake annual online refresher training, but has done so within the previous 18 months, does not have to do the training again for the 2020-21 season.
However, they must ensure that they are familiar with the various documents to support the season, including choice of vaccine and contents of the annual flu letter.
