Nearly 90,000 more flu vaccinations were provided by community pharmacists in England in 2018-19 compared with the previous 12 months, according to an official report.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) advanced service flu report for 2018-19 revealed that 9,071 community pharmacies administered 1,431,538 vaccines under the NHS flu vaccination service.

That equated to over 78% of all community pharmacies in England. In total, 84 more pharmacies provided 87,076 more vaccines compared with 2017-18.

Each pharmacy administered an average of 158 vaccinations this year, with five contractors recording more than 1,000 vaccines each and one providing over 2,500.

“It is great to see that community pharmacies have again surpassed last year’s total, despite the obstacles they faced last winter with the phased delivery of the adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine,” said Alastair Buxton, the director of NHS services at the PSNC.

“Community pharmacy has shown once again that even during difficult times there is a real appetite to offer patients and local communities excellent services that contribute to the prevention agenda prioritised in the NHS long-term plan.”

The PSNC said: “Whilst the NHSBSA has published this data now, please note that contractors have until September 2019 to submit their claims so the final figure could increase.”