‘For many it’s like a golden ticket to the chocolate factory’
SURGERY’S PRIDE IN DELIVERING 2,000 VACCINES IN TWO DAYS
CLOSE to 2,000 residents living in a Nottinghamshire town have been given their first Covid-19 vaccination dose at their local GP surgery.
People living in the Eastwood area eligible for the jab were invited to have their vaccination at Church Walk Surgery to help those not able to access a vaccination centre.
Any residents over the age of 70 or classed as clinically extremely vulnerable who were registered at Eastwood Primary Care Centre, Giltbrook Surgery, Hama Medical Centre or Newthorpe Medical Centre, had the opportunity to get the jab on Friday and Saturday.
The past two days have acted as a pilot to test whether similar schemes could be brought into other GP surgeries across the county as calls were made for more local sites.
Dr Nicole Atkinson, GP at Eastwood Primary Care Centre, has been a partner for 19 years.
In her additional role as Clinical Lead for South Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Partnership, Dr Atkinson has seen the surgery vaccination pilot through “from concept to reality”.
She said: “From our experience and from listening to the comments we’ve had, it couldn’t have gone any better.
“For everyone involved they have been the best days we’ve had in years let alone months.”
Dr Atkinson said around 2,000 doses were given out to eligible people who live in the Eastwood area - many of whom are regular patients of the Church Walk surgery.
This was accomplished through a plan refined over 10 days prior to launching, with around 45 staff and volunteers.
Dr Atkinson added: “This has been a real team endeavour of three local sites, and some of our family members have been here, too, sorting parking as well as teas and coffees.
“There are always challenges but everything ran much smoother than we thought. At the end of the day we were all asking, did that really happen?”
Nurse of 34 years, Amanda
Sutherland, said the opportunity to be part of a Covid-19 local clinic was “wonderful”.
“It’s been like having a golden ticket to the chocolate factory for many people, so it was wonderful to give the vaccine locally,” she said.
“In my 34 years, this experience is right up near the top - I wish we could bottle the atmosphere.
“It has been very hard for community nurses as we have learnt how to look after Covid patients, because you always worry about the spread.
“This is a total flip of that and we are now preventing Covid, and helping to get back to some sort of normal.”
Practice manager, Anita Smith, added: “I’m just brimming with pride and have so much appreciation for our patients.”
Five minutes was allocated for each appointment during the opening hours of 10am to 8pm on Friday, and 10am to 6pm on Saturday.
There were 10 stations operated by two people to ensure a smooth delivery.
“We had made space for queuing so people could wait inside, but we actually didn’t need it,” Dr Atkinson added.
“We were also finding appointments were being done quicker than we thought, too.”
The surgery runs an annual winter flu campaign so has experience in delivering similar programmes, however, Dr Atkinson explained there were logistical differences with social distancing, and the vaccine needing the right temperature.
“This has been a test case to see if we can translate it to other practices and we have hopefully shown that it is achievable in places where it is appropriate.
“This site was chosen because we have a large population of older residents and vulnerable patients, plus it’s 10 miles to the nearest centre.
“It really is about targeting areas with the most need.”
Dr Atkinson said it had also been an emotional couple of days as patients returned after not leaving their homes for nearly a year.
“There were lots of smiles, even a few tears, which just shows how much it means,” she said.
One of the highlights had been two elderly brothers, who attended on Saturday after informing the surgery they had never had a vaccine.
Dr Atkinson said: “They were very nervous, obviously as it was their first jab and such an important one. But they came out.
“What makes this different to the larger sites, is that it’s not a number, we know these people and their families and it’s really special to be the one to give them their vaccination.
“The good news is, it doesn’t end here as we will be delivering all of the second doses to these people, too, so they will be returning in April.
“A number of us have worked here many years, we live locally, and this is something we will remember for the rest of our lives.”