From this week tens of thousands of homeless people in England will be able to get a flu jab for free on the NHS. 

Responding to the news, Francesca Albanese, Director of Policy & Social Change at the national homeless charity Crisis said: 

"We fully support the Government providing flu jabs to protect people experiencing homelessness from potentially deadly infections. Tragically, the average age of death for someone experiencing homelessness is just 43 for women and 47 for men. This is decades shorter than the life expectancy of those of us with secure homes. 

“We also know that services such as GP practices can often be inaccessible to people experiencing homelessness. This kind of proactive outreach is therefore deeply important in engaging people who are so often excluded from vital support. 

"We must use every opportunity to deliver on the Prime Minister’s vision to end rough sleeping. This also means investing in evidence-based approaches, including safe discharge from hospital for people facing homelessness and access to mental health services for people recovering from the trauma of rough sleeping."