Doctors condemn Hunt’s plan to link emergency department funding to staff flu vaccination rates

Public health and emergency doctors’ leaders have denounced England’s health secretary for linking extra payments to hospital accident and emergency departments to flu vaccination rates among staff, criticising him for taking the wrong tack to protect vulnerable patients.

Hunt announced the plan last week when he described how the extra £250m (€300m; $400m) for emergency services in England for 2013-14 would be allocated. A further £250m is being made available to help emergency services next year, but these payments will be made in full only to trusts where 75% of their staff members are vaccinated against flu this year, said the department, although it could not say how much of the payment trusts would lose if …