LOURDES STAFF WIN TOP FLU VACCINE AWARD FOR FOURTH SUCCESSIVE YEAR
BELOW: Staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital celebrate their award win during a
I
t was four in a row for the staff of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital at this year’s Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Awards as they took the top prize once again. The ceremony, organised by the National Immunisation Office, was held virtually this year. A massive 89.2% of staff at the Drogheda hospital received the flu vaccine during the winter period 2020-21, the highest in the country. Their colleagues in Beaumont Hospital took second spot with an uptake of 87.1%. Third place in the acute category went to Wexford General Hospital where 84.9% of staff got the flu jab. Lourdes flu champion Martin Smith has been the person responsible for leading the campaign and heading the team of peer vaccinators over the last number of years and has just retired, passing the baton on to his former colleagues. “It was a pleasure to lead this wonderful team with Adrian [Cleary, Director of Nursing] to first place for the last four years. Best of luck everyone with this year’s campaign,” he said. In the best improver category, maternity hospitals took the top two spots. University Maternity Hospital Limerick saw a seasonal uptake of 69.9%, which represented an
20 | HEALTH MATTERS WINTER 2021
recent flu vaccination clinic. ABOVE: Eileen Ronan, Director of Midwifery, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, presents the hospital’s award to some of the staff who helped ensure they took the best improvers prize.
incredible increase of 41.4% on the previous year. Cork University Maternity Hospital had an uptake of 73.2% of staff, a jump of 35.1% year on year. Kilcreene Orthopaedic Hospital in Kilkenny saw their staff uptake rise by a third to 59.5% to land them third place in the category. Eileen Ronan, Director of Midwifery, UMHL, was delighted with the award win. “On behalf of multidisciplinary team of UMHL, I am delighted to receive the award
of best improvement for influenza vaccination amongst healthcare workers for 2020/2021 influenza season. The uptake in 2020/2021 demonstrates the awareness among our teams of the importance in protecting themselves, their families and services users in our care,” she said. In the long-term care facilities, all the top three in the under 100 beds category reached almost full uptake by staff. Brymore House Nursing Home in Howth had a 100% uptake, followed by Carlingford Nursing