Health bosses apologise over vaccine wait
HEALTH chiefs have apologised after Lanarkshire locals were made to wait “hours” to get their Covid jag yesterday.
Images shared with us showed scores of people queueing outside Ravenscraig Regional Sports Centre, with NHS Lanarkshire bosses blaming “significant delays” on staff shortages.
The Motherwell-based hub recently became one of two “supercentres” in the health board and is now responsible for vaccinating people from all across North Lanarkshire.
One resident, who asked not to be named, called the scenes “shocking” and said she had been made to wait two hours to receive her jag.
She added: “It’s been a total shambles.”
NHS Lanarkshire bosses have now issued an apology to members of the public and blamed the delays on unprecedented challenges.
Dr Mark Russell, lead for the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Lanarkshire, said: “We are aware of the queues at our Covid-19 vaccination clinic at Ravenscraig and would like to apologise to anyone who had to wait for a significant length of time to receive their vaccination. We are now undertaking second dose vaccinations, which is another huge undertaking and comes with its own challenges.
“The queues were due to a number of unexpected challenges, including staff absences.
“Staff at the centre took immediate action to bring in additional staff, to help reduce delays.”
As we previously reported, concern had been raised by the decision to close vaccine hubs in the likes of Airdrie and Wishaw with most services moving to Ravenscraig and East Kilbride.
Richard Leonard, the former Labour leader, warned local transport to the centres from many parts of Lanarkshire “did not exist”.