Vaccinations and the Kiss of Life

There were a number of really good things that happened for me last week. One was a piece of positive news that I had been waiting on since May of this year. Sadly, I can’t share what that news was here as it’s embargoed until next Tuesday. But it is a decision that will make a difference to so many people. Watch this space folks!

The second good thing to happen last week was being invited to lead the discussion at the last Good Governance Improvement (GGI) peer-to peer seminar of 2024. GGI is a brilliant organisation committed to improving governance across the NHS. I have worked with them at Blackpool NHS FT and at Stockport NHS FT. A part of what they do, in promoting and enabling good governance, is to run a monthly virtual meeting for NHS Non Executive Directors (NEDs). The meetings are bound by Chatham House rules. Each meeting provides NEDs from across England with an opportunity to share ideas, challenges, and their concerns. I try and attend as often as I can.

Last week’s meeting looked at a range of issues: the impact and consequences, intended and unintended of the recent Budget; the potential impact of the proposed regulation of NHS managers and leaders; and how NEDS might address these issues within their Board meetings. I really enjoyed the opportunity, and the discussion was informative and lively. The hour flew past.

I chose to attend from the comfort of my lounge-cum-office, so there was no commute, plenty of tea on hand and the central heating was on. Billy, my parrot, likes to listen in to all my meeting conversations, although as far as I’m aware, he has never broken the Chatham House rules. I also had a table next to me that had two glasses of water, a bottle of chesty cough medicine, a box of tissues and an assortment of cough sweets.

Yes, my cough and cold lingers on and just occasionally, I get a tickle in my throat that breaks out into a hacking cough and leaves me unable to speak. So, I was prepared. However, it is getting better, albeit slowly. It wasn’t Covid nor was it influenza. I have tested for the former (negative) and had my flu vaccination at the beginning of October. Sadly, I passed my cold and cough on to J who has, this past week, been very much under the weather. It may well have been our own fault.

J had read an online article that posited the idea that couples who kiss for six seconds or more, each time they kissed, had healthier lives and lived longer. I’m not sure of the science (and you can judge for yourselves here) but I’m never going to pass up an opportunity to kiss my lovely wife. Unfortunately, in so doing I may well have given her my cold.

However, we take consolation in that we are enduring the pain and misery now and not over the Christmas holiday period. I’m also extremely glad it’s neither Covid nor flu. We should not forget that both these diseases are potential killers. They are also highly infectious, and more prevalent during the winter months.

All of which makes it difficult to understand why the number of people being vaccinated is falling. At the end of September this year, the UK Health Security Agency published the latest data on the number of flu-related deaths over the past two winters. Between Oct 2022 – May 2023 and Oct 2023 – May 2024, at least 18,000 people died of flu-related illnesses. During the same time periods, 19,500 people died of Covid. Last winter was a relatively mild flu season. Last week, 406 people died of flu or pneumonia and 100 people died from Covid in England.

As the Get Winter Stronger campaign, which ended this week, reminded us, it is not just about folk dying. People can experience severe health problems from flu, Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), severe enough to need hospital treatment and care. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the National Medical Director for NHS England, and Professor Sir Chris Whitty, England’s Chief Medical Officer were both in the news last week talking about the exponential rise in hospital admissions for flu, Covid and RSV. If beds are increasingly being used to treat people with these conditions, then it will add to the difficulty of reducing the waiting lists for other health problems.

Nobody has actually asked me what I want for Christmas but, if they did, I think I would like the gift of people of all ages getting vaccinated against flu and Covid. That really would make a difference for the NHS to be better able to provide care for everyone.