New vaccine centre to open in order to limit travel and transport virus risks
PHARMACY IS TO RUN SITE AFTER POLITICIANS AND LOCALS RAISED CONCERN OVER ACCESS TO ARENA
A NEW Covid-19 vaccination site is to open in a Derby suburb after a push from locals and politicians.
The site would be operated by the team at Wilsons Pharmacy from its base at the Sinfin District Centre – close to Asda.
It comes after a campaign from pharmacy staff, residents, South Derbyshire District Councillor David Shepherd and South Derbyshire MP Heather Wheeler.
This was to prevent more disadvantaged residents having to pay for taxis and bus fare to the mass vaccination centre at Derby Arena and limit the health risks linked with public transport.
The Sinfin site will open its doors to patients who have booked through the national booking system from Sunday, March 21. Do not call the pharmacy or your local GP to book an appointment.
It is receiving 400 vaccine doses tomorrow and a further 400 on Tuesday, with an aim to vaccinate 1,000 residents per week.
The Sinfin site will be the third pharmacy-led site in Derby, alongside Ikhlas Community Centre, in Normanton, operated by Pear Tree Pharmacy, and St John’s Methodist Church in Allestree, run by Allestree Pharmacy.
Residents in South Derbyshire will also be able to make use of the facility, becoming the second pharmacy-led site for residents in the district, alongside Jubilee Hall in Hatton, with a further vaccination site also being run from Oaklands Village in Swadlincote.
Andrea Smith, pharmacy superintendent for Wilsons – which runs six Derbyshire pharmacies – has worked for the firm for 20 years and told the Local Democracy Reporting Service of her excitement.
The 49-year-old from Risley said: “We are very excited and a little bit exhausted.
“Pharmacies have been very keen to be involved from the second the opportunity was there. We have been very successful with the flu vaccinations, so community pharmacies have been waiting and eager to be involved with the Covid vaccination service. NHS England opened up for expressions of interest and we have been very lucky to have been included – we are really excited to be involved.”
Pharmacy staff and volunteers will run the site, including marshalling patients.
Ms Smith said: “I believe there have been issues in the community as far as people accessing the current services available so hopefully people will find this easier and another option for people to access locally.
“We are hoping for a really good response from the community and I don’t see why we shouldn’t.
“We are hoping we are more accessible for local people and it is an area that has been identified as a more high priority just from the fact that they have not quite achieved the number of vaccinations that they were hoping for. There are some populations locally that are perhaps more difficult to get engaged in the process.”
Heather Wheeler, South Derbyshire MP, who helped campaign for the site to be set up, after being approached by locals, said: “I have been contacted by people in Stenson Fields who felt that it was unacceptable to have to get a number of buses to access the inoculation centre at Derby Arena so working with them and Wilsons Pharmacy a bid was put into to the NHS and using the Sinfin community centre Wilsons will be running a site that can be booked on the national booking system.”
Mrs Wheeler welcomed the news that the site would be opened as a result of the campaign: “This is great news, especially as it is so local, most folk can walk to it, being on the nationally bookable site means that as we ramp up the numbers getting their Covid jabs as we cascade down the age groups it is even more important that this local site goes live.
“I encourage everyone locally to book themselves in there and congratulate everyone involved in making this happen. People trust their local pharmacies and I am delighted that Wilsons are the second pharmacy site that South Derbyshire residents can choose to use.” Bookings for the Wilsons Pharmacy site in Sinfin are only available through the national booking service online and on the phone. Eligible residents will receive letters or a text from the NHS to make them aware that they can book an appointment and provide them with details of how to do so.
Pharmacy staff stress that patients should not call the pharmacy or their local GP to book a vaccination appointment. For those currently ineligible, the advice is to be patient and wait and to avoid putting pressure on local health services by not calling repeatedly to question eligibility.
Hopefully people will find this easier and another option for people to access locally. Andrea Smith
A FORMER Derbyshire teacher has told of the traumatic day she suffered life-changing injuries in an attack by a herd of cows.
Pip Peacock spent eight days in an induced coma and a further two weeks in hospital following the attack, which took place as she was out walking her dog Buster at Magpie Mine, near Sheldon, in the Peak District.
Pip, from Bakewell, says the attack began when one cow approached her and she fell to the ground before being kicked and rolled over several times by the herd. She shouted for help without success until two men and a woman appeared and chased the cattle away.
Pip was flown via air ambulance to the Northern General Hospital, in Sheffield, following the incident, which took place in September,
2019.
Her injuries included 34 breaks in her ribs, a broken collar-bone, damaged shoulder ligaments, and a broken finger, as well as wounds to her left leg and right knee.
Surgeons had to use 17 titanium plates to repair her ribs – and before the surgery, Pip’s husband Philip was warned the second major trauma to her body in two days might mean that she would not survive.
“Thankfully, after more than three weeks in hospital, she was well enough to go home.
Recalling the day, Pip, 63, said: “Buster was used to walking in fields of cows and was on a very short lead. The first thing I recall about the attack is one cow coming for me. Then I was lying on the ground and was kicked and rolled over several times. I tried to shout for help but had no voice. I put my hands over my head and recited Psalm 23; ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.’
“I felt very peaceful as my faith means I am not afraid of death.
“Suddenly, I heard voices and two men and a woman came along. The men were incredibly brave and chased the cows away. I could hear them shouting and was worried the cows would attack them. They used their sticks and camera tripods to move the cows away. The woman stayed and talked to me.”
Buster, a 13-year-old black labrador, died in the attack. She said “Once the cows had gone, I could hear the man on the phone telling someone that my dog had been killed.
“But I don’t remember dropping Buster’s lead or him running away. “He was very placid and loved by everyone – even people who didn’t usually like dogs. He came to us at 18 months old from the Dog’s Trust and we couldn’t have asked for a better dog.”
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) say cattle can become aggressive if they felt threatened, particularly when they have calves with them and if a dog gets between them and a calf.
Their suggestions include avoiding “getting between cows and their calves”, move quickly and quietly, and keep gates closed behind you when walking through fields.
Pip wants to raise awareness of the potential dangers of walking near cows, especially with dogs.
“I think it was just an unfortunate event. I have had incredible support since the accident and can see that good things have come out of it.”
Pip is thankful to Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance for helping to save her. The ambulance crew flew her to hospital in just 10 minutes, when a road journey from the remote location would have taken about 45. “My injuries were so serious I probably would not have survived if I had gone in an ambulance,” she said.
Despite often being in pain, Pip has been trying to rebuild her life, initially by spending time with friends and family and, since lockdown, by walking. She has set herself the challenge of walking 1,000 miles this year to raise funds for the air ambulance.
She added: “As walking was allowed, I just did more and more. I needed a challenge. Then I thought it would be great to use it to raise money for the local air ambulance charity so that something good will come out of what happened to me.”
She has made a great start to her walking challenge, completing almost 200 miles by the end of February.
Pip has set up a JustGiving page, and anybody who wants to sponsor her can do so online.
Anyone who would like to support the local air ambulance can visit the website or call 0300 3045 999.
My injuries were so serious I might not have survived if I had gone in a land ambulance.
Pip Peacock