HEALTHCARE workers at the Royal Bolton are being offered free flu jabs in their staff canteen to protect themselves and the public.

Managers at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said they were doing "everything they could" to vaccinate their frontline staff against the influenza virus and stop it spreading.

The flu is highly contagious and can have severe complications for the elderly, pregnant women and anyone with an underlying health condition or weakened immune system.

At the board of governors meeting, members heard how bosses have been set a target of vaccinating 75 per cent of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, as laid out by the Department for Health.

Employees cannot be forced to have the flu jab, despite the fact sickness absence among staff at the Royal Bolton is among the highest in the North West.

Chief executive of the trust Jackie Bene said: “Receiving the flu jab is a choice. We can only encourage staff and underline the dangers of the flu.

“It can be a very, very traumatic experience.”

She added that other challenges to overcome include people’s fear of needles and a misunderstanding of what the vaccine does.

Ms Bene added: “People sometimes believe the vaccination gives you the flu.

“It is not a live vaccine. It cannot make you ill.

“You can get an inflammatory response by the needle insertion. It is related to the needle, but it’s not the flu.”

Bev Tabernacle, director of nursing at the trust, said clinicians had been offered the jab since September, with nurses going onto wards specifically to give the vaccination to staff.

She said: “We have got staff in the canteen and some of the staff areas offering the vaccination.

“We are doing all that work to try and encourage as many people as possible to have the jab.”

n Flu can spread through small droplets of fluid, coughed or sneezed into the air by an infected person, or by touching a surface or object that has the flu virus on it.

Symptoms include a sudden fever, a dry chesty cough, headache, aching muscles and a runny or blocked nose.

If you are fit and healthy there is usually no need to visit a doctor if you think you have the flu — doctors recommend staying at home, keeping warm and drinking plenty of fluids, and people tend to feel better after a week.

However for people in at-risk groups, catching the flu can make them seriously unwell and make complications like pneumonia or bronchities more likely.

If you have a long-term health condition, are pregnant, have children aged between two and four, or if you are aged 65 or over, ask your GP, practice nurse of pharmacist about the free flu jab.

For more information visit www.nhs.uk/conditions/flu.