Health

Medical centre staff rise to the challenge . . .

Thousands have been vaccinated - your turn will come

When Okehampton Medical Centre received notification in December that North Dartmoor would be chosen as one of the first Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to deliver the coronavirus vaccination, staff were excited yet apprehensive. They had just a week to prepare for the delivery of the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine. A monumental effort was made by the whole team to prepare everything in time.

The whole team of 75 staff and partners are involved in the vaccination programme. They are working tirelessly to invite large numbers of people, organise clinics, arrange storage for the vaccines and supplies and keep staff training up to date. The teams at the medical centre are working long hours to vaccinate as many people as quickly and as safely as possible, while continuing to run their normal general practice services.

Volunteers also play a vital role

The team is extremely grateful for all the volunteers who have come forward to support the practice; from individuals helping with the clinics, the Okehampton & District Lions Club providing hot drinks for patients, and Okehampton & District Community Transport providing a shuttle bus service.

Even though this has been a challenging time, the uptake of the vaccine has been outstanding. They have already vaccinated thousands of patients and are making really good progress. Because they rely on the national supply chain, team members don’t always get a lot of notice of when they will be getting a delivery of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine, meaning little time to contact their patients. That is why they have introduced the SMS text messaging service to speed up the invitation process. But don’t worry if they don’t have your mobile number, their teams are also ringing and sending out letters to patients and they share regular updates on their social media. There are nine priority groups within the first phase of the vaccination roll-out and these have been set out nationally by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations. Groups 1 to 6 cover those aged 65 and above, Health and Social care workers and adults 16-64 in an “at risk group”. This can be anything from people with specific cancers, to severe mental illness, to people with chronic respiratory, heart or kidney disease. Groups 7-9 cover the other age groups down to the over 50s. But the staff at the medical centre are moving through these groups in stages so please don’t worry if you haven’t heard from them yet. They will contact you when it’s your turn.

And finally, if Okehampton Medical Centre do invite you for an appointment, it’s important you attend. Vaccination is a way out of lockdown and getting vaccinated is the single most important thing we can do to beat COVID-19 and help our NHS.

Pictured left: Alex Moores, pharmacist and newest partner at Okehampton Medical Centre

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