Flu jabs, masks optional for DHB staff

PRICK:Wairarapa DHB does not require its workers to get the flu vaccine.

Wairarapa District Health Board will not be following the practice of Waikato DHB, which isrequiring non-vaccinated workers to either get flu jabs or wear face masks.

Last month Waikato DHB became the first in the country to make it compulsory for unvaccinated staff to wear masks, to protect employees and patients from the flu.

The Weekend Herald said three Waikato Hospital nurses had been suspended for defying the controversial new policy, with the Herald since reporting one worker had been sacked as a result.

Wairarapa DHB senior communications advisor Catherine Sands Wearing said although staff were strongly encouraged to be vaccinated, the board was not planning on following Waikato DHB's lead. "It's an approach, but not one that the Wairarapa DHB has at this stage." She said Wairarapa DHB undertakes a range of communications activities to encourage staff to get a flu vaccination.

This includes posters throughout the hospital, intranet feature stories and information pages, and including snippets in their regular internal online newsletter.

"We also encourage managers and team leaders to include information about how to get vaccinated at team meetings and other staff forums," said Ms Sands Wearing. "Taking that encouragement and making it really accessible to staff is the approach we're taking at the moment."

The DHB makes vaccinations accessible to staff by holding semi-regular flu vaccination clinics and having trained ward-based vaccinators available on-site.

Ms Sands Wearing said staff were also able to drop into a regular outpatients clinic to get a vaccination without an appointment.