As you may know from the national news media, the Government has announced a rapid expansion of the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme, with boosters to be offered to all eligible adults. General Practice has a significant role to play in delivering these vital vaccinations and in line with NHS guidance our practice is temporarily focusing on rolling out this programme as a priority.
This means that routine services will be unavailable for a short period of time. Practices will continue to provide urgent care for patients, for example reviewing potentially serious underlying problems such as known or suspected cancer.
As a consequence of this national directive, practices will have to work differently and you might notice the following:
- Delays in calls being answered
- Routine care being delayed, such as long term condition clinics or medication reviews
- Reception teams asking a lot of questions to help them get you to the best person first time. That person may not always be a GP
- Delays in any paperwork requests, such as identification forms or sick/fit notes being completed
- That you are signposted to self-help and pharmacy options for self-limiting
conditions that don’t require a GP or nurse input.
Our practice hopes to be able to resume normal service as soon as possible. We are following national guidance from NHS England and NHS Improvement, and local guidance from the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups, who are supportive of our response to managing complaints. All complaints/letters/enquiries will be reviewed, and response provided at the first opportunity in line with clinical prioritisation.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, particularly when dealing with our practice team who are continuing to work hard to support the vital vaccine booster programme roll out.
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