An NHS trust has launched a campaign to get more of its frontline staff to become ‘flu fighters’.

Bradford District Care Trust aims to get as many staff as possible vaccinated against seasonal flu in order to protect patients, many of whom are particularly vulnerable to the illness.

Samantha Moorehouse, one of the trust’s lead nurses within the infection prevention control team, said: “Flu is a really unpleasant illness to catch.

“Symptoms can hit suddenly and be severe. To help reduce the spread of flu it’s important our staff get protected. We will work with staff to make it as quick and easy as possible for them to receive vaccinations.”

Only about one third of all frontline NHS staff in England (34.7 per cent) had their seasonal flu jabs last year. Most NHS staff are less at risk of serious harm from flu than their patients, who often have chronic illnesses or are over 65 years old.

However, staff are still vulnerable as 70 per cent of fatal influenza cases occurred among people aged between 15 and 64 last winter, a total of 415 confirmed cases.