Flu Vaccination Update

In light of the risk of flu and COVID-19 co-circulating this winter, the national flu immunisation programme is absolutely essential to protect vulnerable people and support the resilience of our local community and our health and care system.

The way we deliver the flu immunisation programme will follow the process we introduced last year to ensure we can safely provide the vaccination to more patients than ever before.

At Lakeside Oundle we have developed a process that ensures we keep you safe and minimise the time you need to spend waiting for your vaccination. For this to work effectively we need you to work with us as much as possible and the clinic will run very similar to last year.

The purpose of this leaflet is to explain how this year’s programme will work at the surgery and how you can help our staff to help you and other patients in our community.

Clinic dates and times

Our clinics will run on the following dates and times:

• Saturday 2^nd October 2021 – Over 65 year olds
• Saturday 16^th October 20210 – eligible under 65 year olds

Appointments

Social distancing remains a Public Health England requirement in GP practices. In order to observe social distancing, we need to limit the numbers of patients inside the surgery at any point in time. To do this we are running clinics that are broken down into blocks of time. Each clinic will be restricted to a limited number of patients with access strictly by prior appointment only. We ask that you work with us by treating this as a priority and do everything possible to attend at the time you are booked in.

Before your appointment

If you have received a COVID-19 vaccination in the 7 days prior to your appointment or have any symptoms of COVID-19 you cannot have the flu vaccination, please do not attend the surgery even if invited. Instead please contact us and we will either rebook your appointment or add you to a waiting list.

If you have been confirmed as not having COVID-19 but have a temperature relating to another illness you cannot have a flu vaccine. Please do not attend the surgery. Instead please contact us and we will rebook your appointment.

Wherever possible we ask that patients attend the surgery alone as space in the building is strictly limited to enable us to maintain social distancing. Those patients who need to be accompanied by a carer are asked to attend with a maximum of one carer.

Before heading to the surgery for your appointment please:

• Wear loose fitting clothing
• Have a face covering. Patients without face coverings will only be permitted to enter the surgery if they meet one of the agreed exclusion categories.
• Prepare to wait outside, bring an umbrella and wear suitable clothing. We are taking measures to minimise the need to queue outside but this could still be a possibility.
• If you are driving to the surgery, the surgery car park will be closed to ensure patient safety, the same as last year.

Arrival for appointment

Please arrive at the surgery at the time of your appointment. This minimises the need for queuing outside the practice. When arriving, head to the main entrance of the surgery.

A member of staff will ask you the following COVID-19 screening questions.

• Have you had a COVID-19 vaccination in the last 7 days?
• Do you or any member of your household/ family have a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19?
• Are you or any member of your household/family waiting for a COVID-19 test result?
• Have you had contact with someone with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, or been in isolation with a suspected case in the last 10 days?
• Do you have any of the following symptoms?
  • high temperature or fever
  • new, continuous cough
  • a loss or alteration to taste or smell

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’, you will not be able to be vaccinated and will be asked to contact the surgery when it reopens to arrange an alternative appointment.

Please use the floor markings in the building to ensure you observe social distancing and help keep our staff and other patients safe.

Your vaccination

This appointment is strictly for a flu vaccination only. If you need to speak to a healthcare professional about any other issue, please contact the surgery to make a separate appointment

After your vaccination

Once you have had your vaccination all patients are asked to follow the directional signage set out in the building. This will be different to the usual exit.

We thank you in advance for your co-operation in keeping our staff and patients safe during our flu vaccination clinics.

Published: Sep 3, 2021