Covid-19 vaccination
We are very pleased and proud to announce that the Boston Primary Care Network have started to deliver the Covid Vaccination.
Our practice will be working in collaboration with the other local Boston practices to deliver the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines.
The vaccinations are being delivered from a central hub on behalf of your Practice, and you will need to attend the hub for your vaccine.
The vaccination program is happening in a very structured way which prioritises those at most risk first. We will be telephoning patients to book them in order.
PLEASE DO NOT CALL YOUR GP PRACTICE TO FIND OUT WHEN YOU WILL BE VACCINATED. WE WILL CALL YOU WHEN IT IS YOUR TURN.
We are using the Department of Health and Social Care guidelines to prioritise vaccination. The vaccines will be delivered in the following order:
1. all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
2. Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
3. all those 75 years of age and over
4. all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5. all those 65 years of age and over
6. all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. all those 60 years of age and over
8. all those 55 years of age and over
9. all those 50 years of age and over
Each practice within the Boston area has been given an allocation of patients to call based upon patient need..
There are a small number of exclusions from this group at present due to certain medical conditions but a process is in place to ensure all over 80’s are offered vaccination before we move onto the next group of patients to vaccinate.
As you may imagine this is a huge task which is taking place at one of the busiest times of the year for the NHS. Our Practice, along with our colleagues in all parts of the health service are committed to ensuring this vaccine is administered to vulnerable patients as soon as possible.
The practice receives 3-4 days’ notice of delivery of vaccines to our local centre (The Sidings Medical Practice) where vaccination will take place. Once the vaccine has been delivered it can only be stored for 3 days so patients are being contacted by NHS staff to book patients for all of the practices.
The Practice has provided to the call centre the details of the patients to contact and rest assured if you fit into the above categories you will be called fairly and in an order based upon strict clinical guidelines.
You do not need to contact the practice to arrange vaccination you will be contacted and we are unable to give you further information about when supplies will arrive or when you can expect vaccination but we know that there are large supplies of this vaccine available and we are working our way through this process as fast as is humanly possible.
As a practice we are proud to be involved in vaccinating patients across all local practices against this deadly virus. We have had amazing support from local volunteers who have given their time to assist patients with this process and have committed practice resources to ensure we are sharing this workload locally on a fair basis.
We thank you for your support and patience in this process. This program of vaccination has been described as a marathon not a sprint and we all want to ensure our loved ones are protected as soon as possible to allow us to return to a more open way of life. Please at this point however don’t contact the Practice asking when it is expected that vaccination will be offered to you or a loved one as we are unable to give a date, please trust us that it will be offered as soon as possible in a fair and transparent manner.
FLU SEASON 2020!!
It is that time of year again! Our flu clinics will once again be running over the autumn/winter period. We are sending out appointments shortly to all people who are eligible to have the vaccine. You are eligible if you:
are aged 65 years and over
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have a chest complaint such as asthma or bronchitis
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have diabetes
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have a lowered immunity due to disease or cancer treatment
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are pregnant
Anyone in these risk groups are more likely to develop potentially serious complications of flu, such as pneumonia (a lung infection), so it's recommended that they have a flu vaccine every year to help protect them.
Please can we ask that all patients who are due a flu vaccine this year support their GP Practice, our Clinicians have updates each year and know how to deal with you if you have a reaction and anaphylactic emergency. The Surgery has control of infection audits each year to make sure that our premises are fit for purpose.
If you choose to go elsewhere for your flu vaccine then we may be left with fridges full of vaccines that have already been ordered and paid for; which is a large waste of money not only for us but the NHS as a whole.
Please note that people in the 50-64-year old age group will not be vaccinated until November and December, providing there is sufficient vaccine, and no appointments will be offered for this age group until then. This is to ensure that those who are most at risk are vaccinated first. If you are 50-64 and you are in one of the other groups which is eligible for the flu vaccination, for example you have a health condition which puts you at ristk from the flu, you will be invited earlier.
If you have received your flu appointment and it is not convenient, or if you have not received an appointment and you think you should have - please contact our reception team on (01205) 311133 - we are happy to help!
Greyfriars Surgery is still open and we encourage people to get in touch for any health concerns that cannot be dealt with at home by the individual, their family or friends, or the local pharmacy.
If you think you need to see a doctor, nurse, or other health professional, please call the surgery on (01205) 311133 to book an appointment to speak to a clinician.
Please only visit the surgery in person if you have an appointment.
Routine vaccinations and immunisations are important and are available at the surgery.
Make prescription requests online or by calling our dedicated prescription line on (01205) 319856 which is open between 10.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Friday.
If you need to be seen face-to-face then you will be given an appointment to come to the surgery and this will be provided in a Covid-safe way.
These changes are happening to keep staff and patients safe.
We want to discourage people from queuing outside a GP surgery and waiting in the waiting area, to reduce the spread of coronavirus.
If you have any coronavirus symptoms, DO NOT come into the practice - self isolate and seek help via NHS 111 or 111.nhs.uk