Schools across the UK are already operating under enormous pressure to deliver results in everything from academic achievement to pastoral care – with independent schools currently under particular scrutiny. These pressures can exert influence on everybody from management to teachers and support staff, so the last thing a school needs in the winter is a bad dose of the flu.
One of the most high-risk places to work in terms of exposure to the flu is within a school setting, where staff members and children congregate in close proximity, giving the virus ample opportunities to spread on surfaces like doorknobs and devices as well as through the air in coughs and sneezes.
Every year the flu causes debilitating symptoms including a fever and/or the chills, loss of appetite and fatigue. It can take over a week to recover fully from the flu, and last year’s strain had particularly serious symptoms; feedback we received indicated that many schools were badly affected by flu outbreaks as staff absence forced department heads to spend hours filling the gaps left by absent colleagues.
As a result, here at Citi Health we are already getting calls from schools which found last year’s long, severe flu season extremely challenging, and who want to booking in a clinic with us to protect their staff against infection this coming winter.
The flu vaccine has been proven year-after-year to reduce the spread of the virus in vaccinated populations, protecting vulnerable people, and helping those who do catch the virus to recover a lot faster.
The NHS offers free flu vaccinations to individuals in high-risk groups, but this doesn’t include teachers, support staff and other school staff members. At Citi Health we run on-site clinics at schools nationwide, offering all staff members the chance to get vaccinated before flu season kicks in, as part of their preparations for the winter.
Offering your staff a flu vaccination this autumn will boost morale, giving teachers and all staff at your school the confidence to step into winter knowing they are prepared.
Get in touch for a quick and easy quote today: email gayle@citihealth.co.uk or telephone 0203 633 6301.
