Injecting a bit of humour into a flu jab campaign brought both operational success and industry recognition.

Getting staff to have their annual flu jab is a challenge for many NHS organisations. But our JabDone campaign made people smile and helped Trusts hit their targets – as well as winning national awards. And it’s now become a fixture at Trusts across the NHS.

Using lines such as ‘there’s always that one prick you can’t avoid at work’, we delivered a touch of humour, and the colour palette and visual treatment meant staff couldn’t miss the message…

The Department of Health had set a national target of 75% of frontline staff getting the jab, to help protect patients in their care against harm from flu.

Making sure that staff protect themselves and the community they serve is sometimes a problem, but the approach we came up with seemed to do the trick.

While the campaign was really effective in practical terms, it also caught the judges’ eye in several design and marketing awards categories. It won awards including Partnership Engagement Initiative of the Year, in the UK Public Sector Communication Awards; Best operational campaign – from the Institute of Internal Communications; and Best Health Care campaign in the CIPR Pride awards.

The campaign effectively supported each trust in achieving 75% staff vaccination by 31st December, equating to the best performing year for NHS staff flu vaccination uptake in Merseyside ever to date.