Flu vac: confirmation of training requirements for 2021/22

Community pharmacy contractors are required to demonstrate that all pharmacists providing the flu vaccination service in their pharmacy have the skills needed to do so. NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I), working with Public Health England, has confirmed to PSNC that the normal training requirements for pharmacists providing the service are being reinstated for the 2021/22 season.

This means pharmacists who are now due to undertake their refresher face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support (including administration of adrenaline) will need to do so this year.

To support provision of the service in the 2020/21 season and as part of measures to support pharmacy operations during the pandemic, NHSE&I previously agreed that pharmacists who had undertaken vaccination training and were due to repeat face-to-face in 2020 did not need to do this until 2021. The requirement for pharmacists to undertake this training on a three-yearly basis is now reinstated.

The frequency of training

A pharmacist who last undertook face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2017 and would have needed to undertake face-to-face training in 2020 but deferred this due to the pandemic, and those who last undertook face-to-face training for both injection technique and basic life support in 2018, will need to complete their face-to face training in 2021.

Pharmacists are also expected to undertake annual update training each year, to ensure their knowledge stays up to date with changes in practice and guidance. This may involve self-directed learning, using relevant references sources, such as the Green Book and the annual flu letter. It may also include online training which is available from a range of providers.

Further information and details of training providers