The chairman of the York Health Trust has said it is a "tragedy" that more people have not been vaccinated against the flu bug that is sweeping the country.

Alan Maynard, who is also Professor of Health Economics at the University of York, said part of the current NHS crisis was a product of a failure by GPs to vaccinate people over 65 and those who suffer from chronic illnesses. He added that national vaccination rates stood at around 45 per cent despite the treatment being a proven defence against flu.

"In the NHS the business we are in is trying to improve people's health. It's utterly frustrating when you have an intervention that improves health and it's not adopted."

He added: "It's a tragedy that we have not used it, and for goodness sake let's not make the same mistake next year."

Prof Maynard suggested there could be cash incentives for GP practices to increase their rates - a method he said worked in the early 1990s for childhood vaccination and cervical cytology rates - or league tables of practices showing how many people they vaccinated.

Prof Maynard stressed he was not criticising York GPs, saying he believed their vaccination rates were higher than national ones.

He said only about one in four NHS trusts had vaccinated their own staff against flu. The York Trust had offered the vaccination, but there was a relatively low take-up by staff.

Dr Fred Faller, prescribing lead GP for the York Primary Care Group, said: "York Primary Care Group is very aware of the effectiveness of flu vaccine and is actively promoting its use. Continuing audit and analysis of take-up is being undertaken. Any additional resources to support increase take-up would be welcomed."

Despite hospitals across the country gearing up for a fresh wave of flu patients, the situation is easing at York District Hospital, with emergency admissions at a relatively normal level of between 30 and 40 a day. General manager Susan Acott said they were continuing with non-urgent surgery, which restarted yesterday.

"I think it's fingers crossed that we are over the worst of it and this isn't the calm before the storm," she added.

A City of York Council spokesman said that while every department had staff off with the flu, it was not affecting the authority's work. "We are not at crisis levels."

A spokeswoman for CGU, which employs 2,000 people in York, said it had experienced an upsurge in the number of staff off with flu, but it was not affecting business.

NHS chief executive Sir Alan Langlands insisted that the flu outbreak would not prevent the health service from meeting its target of cutting waiting lists.

"I think the target that has been set by the Government in its manifesto will be met by the end of the Parliament," he pledged.

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