Covid-19 Vaccinations at Stanground Surgery

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group supporting South Peterborough PCN to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations at Stanground Surgery.

The NHS is well-used to delivering millions of vaccines a year and is moving quickly to roll out this vaccine to those who need it, but it is important that we remember this will be a marathon, not a sprint.

The large increase in cases hospitals are seeing and the emergence of a new variant of the virus shows that we cannot let our guard down now.

NHS staff are doing an incredible job to deliver what it is the largest vaccination programme in our history, at the same time as continuing to be there for everyone who needs care.

The NHS will offer vaccinations using three different models. In the first instance, dozens of NHS trusts are acting as hospital hubs where the vaccine can be stored safely and where many in the top priority groups – including the over 80s, care home workers and at risk NHS staff – have been able to get vaccinated on site.

To make it as easy as possible for those who are eligible to access a vaccination safely, hundreds of local vaccination services have been set up, with more due to start in the coming weeks. These community and primary care-led services will vary based on local and logistical considerations, but include GP practices, local authority sourced buildings or other local facilities, as well as roving teams who have started delivering it in care homes.

The NHS is also now establishing mass vaccination centres, where large numbers of people will be able to go and get vaccinated. These could be in local venues such as sports stadiums, racecourses, and concert venues that offer the physical space to deal with large numbers of people while maintaining social distancing.

We are working incredibly hard to open additional vaccination sites over the coming days and weeks to expand the number of vaccination sites and vaccination appointments we have available across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The vaccination programme via GP practices is run by groups of GP practices called Primary Care Networks, or PCNs, and are supported by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). They are coming together to create hubs where the vaccinations can be given to their registered patients. Nurses, pharmacists and other NHS staff will work alongside GPs to vaccinate those aged 80 and over, as well as care home workers and residents before moving through the other cohorts as determined nationally by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The CCG, in collaboration with South Peterborough Primary Care Network (PCN) (which includes the practices in Oundle and Wansford, as well as Yaxley; Stanground; New Queen Street, Whittlesey; and Fletton), has followed national NHS England guidelines and processes on choosing and setting up a vaccine site and has selected the Stanground Surgery site as the most suitable location to deliver the COVID-19 vaccinations to patients. This is largely because of geographic centrality and patient population density by place of residence. Patients from throughout the South Peterborough PCN area are being invited to attend the vaccination site at Stanground to receive their vaccination in a safe and secure location.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide vaccinations in every GP practice. This is true in our area and across the country. We know that for some people this means they may have to travel a little further, but in order to deliver the vaccines safely to thousands of patients we have identified this model is the most clinically safe and secure at this time.

In addition to considerations regarding patient access and centrality, consideration also has to be given to the logistics of safely storing and moving the vaccines, as well as issues of patient safety. There are also very clear workforce issues to consider as the NHS staff who are trained to deliver vaccinations are also working in patient facing roles delivering healthcare to our local populations at this difficult time. Rotas and staffing have to be considered, alongside delivery of our other NHS healthcare services. Having staff spread across multiple sites within each PCN is extremely difficult for both the vaccination delivery and the delivery of other services. Nationally there will be tens of thousands of people required to vaccinate people at the pace and scale that we need to.

GP sites providing vaccinations will be spread across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and more will join on a phased basis. We will continue to review all of our sites as the vaccination programme progresses.

The Local Authority has services that can support people to get to their vaccination site if they are unable to arrange their own transport to the site.

The Local Authority has a team of volunteer drivers to help you get to your appointment. You can call them between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday on 0345 045 5219 to book your transport. We would ask that you consider contacting a friend or relative who may be able to drive you to the appointment if you think they may be able to help in the first instance, as our volunteer driver team will have limited capacity.

We would like to remind all of our local patients please do not call the GP practice to book an appointment. Instead we will contact you. If you are invited to book an appointment, we would encourage you to take this opportunity up.

When you attend your appointment, you will need to follow social distancing guidance, bring and wear a face mask or visor, and follow hand hygiene guidance. These steps help to save lives.

We want to reassure patients that our GP practices will remain open and if you have any medical concerns you should contact us.

Published: Jan 23, 2021