‘Jab-o-meter’ points to success in Kent
South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) employs around 5,000 staff, with almost 90% working on the frontline. Before COVID-19, the trust had some of the strongest flu vaccination rates in the country.
The pandemic changed that. By 2022/23, uptake among frontline staff was at 59.8% and all-trust uptake sat at 56.9%.
The communications team set out to answer a simple question: how do you turn a short-term incentive into lasting behaviour change?
They found that their £5 thank-you voucher was helpful, but that it worked best when combined with local ownership, visible leadership, easy access and relevant messaging.
Managers were given toolkits, email templates and myth-busting resources to make conversations easier. Staff stories, short films and a progress tracker, called the jab-o-meter, communicated progress without creating pressure.
Frontline staff vaccination rates increased to a high of 73.7% in 2024/25 and remained well above the national average in 2025/26 at 67.0%. Meanwhile, the number of staff hours lost to flu has now fallen significantly from a peak of 600 in December 2022 to less than 200 in December 2025.