Yes!!!
Next week, CHFT starts our annual staff flu vaccination campaign to keep us, our families and our patients safe this winter.
YES stands for You're Extra Special as, for everyone who has a jab, the Trust will make a donation to Unicef for their global child tetanus immunisation programme.
Our stocks arrived yesterday - see Brenda Cox pictured with them. Dr Gavin Boyd our lead infection control doctor, had his this morning. see pic. Radiology at HRI will be the first clinical team to get theirs on Monday afternoon and from next week onwards all our immunisers will be out and about in all clinical areas delivering the protective jabs right across the Trust. A full list of them all will go on the intranet shortly.
From Thursday (October 5) for the next six weeks there will also be pop-up clinics from noon-1 pm at the dining room at CRH and near the dining room at HRI to get yours.
It's especially important this year as experts are predicting the flu outbreak in Australia - the worst they've had for years - could well be heading our way.
Closer to home, Comms' "I never get it" Caroline Wright is already knocking on Jean Robinson's door at the front of the "Jab Me " queue after 'flu struck last year. Here's her story.
Sum up your flu in three words.
Absolutely fecking horrible
When did you get it and how long did it last?
A full week off work in November last year but I didn’t start to feel totallly right for at least two weeks.
What were your first symptoms?
I was sitting in Wetherspoons in Huddersfield having a post-shop beer on a Saturday afternoon last November. Suddenly a chill went straight through me and I just couldn't warm up despite having a warm, furry parka on. I don't know if that is typical but I felt so bad so quickly that when we got home I went to bed and missed Strictly! Unheard of! For the next three days I just got worse and worse. Ringing in on Monday morning I was a wreck.
How did it feel as it went on?
Totally wiped out. I had already worked through two bad colds a few weeks earlier so I know the difference. By the Tuesday I thought I would be better, but it was very, very slow. Appetite went. Bones ached. Terrible cough and so weary. I spent most of time in bed. The following Saturday I was due to meet my girlfriends in Manchester for the Christmas Markets (an annual highlight) and for the first time ever I had to cry-off. I could not have coped with trains and crowds. I had been knocked for six totally, and felt very down. The only good thing, in hind sight, was that it happened in mid-November and not Christmas.
How is it different to a cold?
It’s nothing like a cold. A cold is in your head. Flu is in another league. It’s your whole body and, in my case, my mind. I got very, very, down about how slow it was taking to feel better.
What would you say to persuade colleagues to have a jab?
Just do it. I am not a drama queen, everything here is true. Imagine the irony of sitting next to our Comms' campaign queen Jacqui Booth and not having a jab. I thought I was safe as I hadn't had the ‘flu - or a jab - for years and had been fine. So wrong! I'll never risk no jab again.