Colleagues at CHFT are offered their flu vaccination free of charge, and as the autumn nights draw in, Specialist Ophthalmic Practitioner and peer vaccinator, Elaina Corton, is encouraging as many of us as possible to be winter ready to help avoid missing out on key events or spending their hard-earned salaries on cold and flu remedies.

Elaina said: “Many of our colleagues will be thinking ahead and planning events for the next couple of months, including no doubt Christmas dos, days out, attending weddings or parties and getting together with family and friends.

“The flu is debilitating. More often than not if you catch it, apart from feeling constantly exhausted, you may have to ask others to go out and buy products to help with the symptoms.

"Having had flu myself some years ago when I was pregnant with my baby boy, I would never want to go through that again. I was so worried about him. I had to take a week off work, which was unheard of!

"If having it helps to reduce the severity of the flu in any way, I would encourage everyone to get it sooner rather than later. Colleagues have told me they've had little to no side effects, that their vaccine has been completely painless and they haven't even had a sore arm - in fact, they'd forgotten they had even had it."

More than 1,000 colleagues have had their vaccination. Find out where our drop-in sessions are and who your nearest Peer Immuniser is by searching flu on the intranet or by clicking the buttons on the right-hand side of the homepage.

Do you work weekends, out of hours, early and late shifts?

Please talk to the clinical site team - they'll be able to advise you or signpost you to an immuniser.

This week’s drop-in sessions:

HRI Learning Centre:

CRH Ingleton Falls