Town’s lack of vaccine hub ‘beggars belief’
COUNCILLOR SAYS HUCKNALL HAS BEEN ‘IGNORED’
A COUNCILLOR is calling for a vaccine hub to be set up in his town to stop elderly patients having to travel miles for a jab.
There is currently no centre for Covid-19 vaccinations within Hucknall, causing people going for a vaccine to travel miles to their nearest hub.
For many residents in the area, it means a journey to either Kirkby-inashfield, Mansfield, King’s Mill Hospital or Nottingham’s City Hospital.
But Lee Waters, Ashfield Independents councillor for Hucknall North, is calling for this to change saying it “beggars belief” that the town does not have a hub.
Councillor Waters says he has been putting pressure on the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to introduce a Hucknall centre alongside other councillors in his area.
He said: “Since they started the vaccination programme, some of the most vulnerable residents in our town have faced a long journey.
“It beggars belief that one of the biggest towns in Nottinghamshire has been ignored.
“Many of them have no access to public transport. Our councillor team have been working with organisations like Ashfield Voluntary Action and Our Centre who have been providing free transport.
“If it wasn’t for them, many Hucknall residents would have missed their appointments. We need a vaccination centre as soon as possible.”
David Shaw, another Hucknall councillor, has also backed the calls, telling the Ashfield District Council Covid-19 recovery committee he is “pushing hard” for a hub.
He said: “We in Hucknall could fill the City Ground in Nottingham oneand-a-half times. We deserve not be ignored by health bosses.
“I know that they are extremely busy but we feel that the fact that we still don’t have a vaccination centre. We are pushing hard to resolve this.”
A spokesperson for the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG could not confirm whether a Hucknall site will be set up in the future.
However, the CCG says it is looking at options for a number of new vaccine hubs across the county “in the next few weeks” but warned that the process “cannot be rushed”.
A CCG statement said: “A number of Local Vaccination Services have already gone live with more sites set to go online in the next few weeks.
“This is a very careful process, and several rigorous checks take place to ensure safety, accessibility, power supplies, security and many other factors. “We are working with NHS England and Improvement to support the roll out of the Covid19 vaccination programme in more agile settings. “We will be using these agile methods to boost uptake in areas that don’t have a site. It is a process that takes time which cannot be rushed, and we are grateful for the public’s patience.”
Some of the most vulnerable residents in our town have faced a long journey.
Councillor Lee Waters