Numark has expressed concern that fewer patients may benefit from a pharmacy flu vaccination next autumn and winter due to commissioners bowing to pressure from GPs. Area teams in the North Midlands, including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire, have announced that they will only be commissioning an NHS flu vaccination from pharmacies for at-risk patients under 65 during the 2015/16 flu season, and there are rumours that more area teams may follow this example.

Mimi Lau, Numark’s director of pharmacy services, argued that denying people aged over 65 the opportunity to get their flu jab from their community pharmacy “raised the issue of discrimination” and called for a national service for all at-risk groups across pharmacy. She said: “Targets for vaccinating ‘at-risk’ groups are not being met nationally, so we need to get more people vaccinated. The only way to get more people vaccinated is to increase awareness and access to the service. By reducing access, we almost inevitably reduce awareness.”