bma flu vaccine funding freeze pushes GPs to threaten stopping flu jabs
General practice leaders and frontline teams are warning that a long-running freeze in payments for seasonal influenza vaccinations has left many surgeries facing an untenable financial choice: absorb rising costs or withdraw from the programme. With the next flu season roughly seven months away (around September 2026 ET), doctors are threatening to stop offering jabs unless delivery payments are revised.
Payment freeze, mounting costs and the threat to delivery
Practices say the per-dose reimbursement for delivering flu vaccines has not been raised since 2019, while operating costs have climbed sharply. Staff wages, consumables and premises expenses have all increased over the same period, squeezing margins on vaccination clinics. Some surgeries that are contractually required to offer the programme are now signalling they will not sign up for the next season unless terms improve.
Clinics are weighing several unpalatable options: subsidise immunisation work from core budgets, scale back other services to free up staff and space, or shrink vaccination teams. A number of practices have publicly considered stopping flu vaccinations entirely on financial grounds, and others have issued direct warnings that they will pause delivery unless payments are lifted to reflect current costs.
Potential impact on patients and winter health services
Health leaders caution that reducing the capacity to deliver seasonal flu vaccines would have direct consequences for vulnerable groups, including older adults and people with chronic conditions who benefit most from immunisation. Lower uptake would likely translate into more influenza-related illness in the community and an accompanying rise in emergency department attendances.
Public health experts underline that vaccination programmes have been critical for keeping winter admissions down. Clinics that scale back or withdraw from the programme risk increasing pressure on hospital beds and intensive care units at precisely the time when hospitals are already stretched by seasonal demands. Several practices in areas with tight workforces and higher deprivation have warned of disproportionate impacts on local access to jabs.
Calls for an urgent review and a short window to act
Medical leaders are urging a rapid review of delivery funding ahead of the autumn campaign, arguing that a modest uplift now would be offset by avoided hospitalisations and the costs of winter surges. Suggested fixes include an inflation-linked adjustment to per-dose payments and targeted support for surgeries in deprived areas that face higher operational pressures.
Time is limited: with planning for autumn clinics already under way and supplier and staffing arrangements to be finalised in the months ahead, negotiators have a brief window to secure broad practice participation. Observers say a transparent settlement that recognises the long-term savings from prevention would be the most prudent course, while failing to act risks reversing years of progress in keeping flu-related admissions down.
The coming weeks will be decisive for whether primary care can maintain the immunisation infrastructure relied upon by many patients, or whether a funding deadlock will reduce local access to a low-cost, high-impact preventive intervention.
