Winter ready?
Winter ready?
Every winter, rising seasonal viruses place extra pressure on health and care services. The good news is that there are lots of initiatives underway to help combat the spread of seasonal viruses during a busy time for staff and services.
Winter preparedness campaign
A dedicated winter preparedness campaign page is now live within the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM). This page brings together infection prevention and control guidance, information, and resources to help services prepare for and manage the most common seasonal infection risks over winter.
Seasonal flu vaccination resource
A new learning resource has been developed which to improve knowledge about flu and the benefits of flu vaccination among the health and social care workforce.
The resource is presented a slide set that can be used locally and offers a clear overview of the influenza virus and the impact of flu on health and social care workers. It also explains how the flu vaccine works and addresses common myths about flu and flu vaccination.
The resource highlights that flu immunisation uptake in healthcare workers in Scotland during the 2024/25 season was 35.9%. In Social care workers uptake was even lower at 17.2%.
Combatting false vaccine information
Immunisation is one of our most effective public health tools, yet misinformation continues to spread - especially online. NES in collaboration with Public Health Scotland have developed workforce education resources to help support all healthcare practitioners to have confident, compassionate, evidence-based conversations with the public about vaccines and vaccination. This includes a new resource specifically focussing on combatting false vaccine information.
How you can help
- Share Winter preparedness campaign resources across your teams
- If your role involves direct contact with service users, getting vaccinated is a vital step in protecting you and the people you support, find out more at nhsinform
- Refresh your own IPC knowledge through the Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP) on Turas Learn and encourage colleagues to do the same.
December, 04 2025