Chesterfield GP hails 'fantastic' vaccination effort as teams adapt to Omicron surge

Dr PJ Flann, of Avenue House Surgery, on Saltergate, said a ‘can-do’ attitude was behind the success of the team as it continues to record among the highest vaccine uptakes in the country.

Dr Flann believes this will put the north Derbyshire vaccine programme in a strong place to adapt to the Omicron variant.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of a ‘tidal wave of Omicron’ in a televised address on Sunday as he set a new target to offer Covid boosters to all adults who want one by the end of December.

MORE: Derbyshire's public health chief issues Omicron update

Dr Flann, who is clinical director of Chesterfield and Dronfield Primary Care Network (PCN), said the team can be ‘very proud’.

"They achieved 186,000 vaccines in phase one and two at Chesterfield’s Winding Wheel and Stubley Medical Centre in Dronfield, with the first patient in Derbyshire being vaccinated at Stubley in December 2020.

"They have continued with this success into phase three at Walton Hospital and Stubley Medical Centre.

"We have developed an integrated model working across GP practices and DCHS, the community nursing provider.

"Staff come from all areas of society and NHS providers.

"We do not rely on any one stretched service to help us, but have a collective, supportive approach from all services.

"We have achieved this with minimal demand on our local practices and therefore impact on their workload.

“We have a ‘can do’ attitude and are happy to push the boat out and get on where we can.”

Dr Flann describes the Walton Hospital set-up as ’a very efficient, slick service’ for people to be vaccinated.

"Walton is a fantastic site, with ample parking and a great clinical space to vaccinate,” he said.

“This allows us to be more consistent for patients.”

Dr Flann, who has been a GP for more than 20 years, said the team had adapted to the new demands from Omicron at both sites.

"We are bringing in additional staff, increasing our vaccination rate and extending to seven days a week, in order to increase capacity and help protect as many patients as we can,” he added.

"We hope to provide an additional 5,000 vaccines per week.”

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