Obtaining the flu jab whilst in hospital?

All about caring
1

Hi - I wonder if anyone can help, my husband has been in hospital for 6 months now following his stroke and is making very slow progress towards a home discharge which is expected to be in a couple of months. Meanwhile I have asked for him to have the flu jab he normally receives from the gp given to him in hospital. The gp say they cant go to the hospital to do it - the hospital are saying its not in stock and he should just avoid contact with the flu virus. As he is mostly bed bound this will be difficult for him to do - I feel as though i have hit a brick wall - why can they not just give him the jab - any advice?? thank you in advance

2

I was in our pharmacy the other day and a patient was asking about the flu jab - the pharmacist said that they were out of stock as were most of the pharmacies in the area and that new stocks would’t be available for some weeks. So it’s most likely that GP’s and hospitals are also out of stock.

3

We had a minor blip in which Nan is allergic to the flu jab…it took 3 weeks to get an apt and an okay to go ahead from the GP…however it was then out of stock. Ours had ordered more supplies and they can tell you the date they will know if stocks are allocated to them, you can then phone on that day to get an apt which will be after stocks are in. Be sure to phone early on the day of the date you are given or be cheeky like I was and do it the day before. We still have a few weeks to wait but at least it will be given as her’s should be accounted for and held for her appointment. If our surgery can manage it there really is no reason somewhere else can’t…it’s very unusual for our surgery to be this accommodating.

4

Thanks for your replies - I have just spoken to the pharmacist in the hospital who has told me it is not the hospitals policy to vaccinate patients. I can’t believe it as we are constantly being told flu is a killer yet they are refusing to give him the vaccine. His gp has a dose of vaccine for him but they cannot come to hospital to give it . I need to complain to somebody but don’t know where to go with it ???