We are humbled by the continued thoughtfulness, and tolerance of our patients in the crisis. We are very stretched by workload (coronavirus and other illnesses), the vaccination programme and staff absences. Our heros this week are the receptionists: when you speak with one in the next 10 days, it is likely that they are working double shifts as they step up to cover sick or self-isolating colleagues. Do contact us if you need us but please be considerate towards them.
Local hospitals have suspended non-urgent work to concentrate on Covid and other urgent cases. We will still refer you if needed, but your wait will be longer. If you have recently been referred, this will be queued and picked up again by the hospital as soon as they can. If your symptoms get worse, tell us and we can decide if an urgent option is needed.
On a positive note, we have now vaccinated all 1st priority category (care home residents and workers) and a large proportion of 2nd priority category (patients over 80y and health care workers). We are now planning with colleagues to reach housebound patients. This means we are leading the country. We have a challenge to identify health and social care workers in Category 2 who do not have access to the vaccine through work. We are working to solve this as soon as we can.
For this group and for all patients with questions about the vaccine please do not phone us but do revisit this news page for updates.
More information about the coronavirus vaccine programme is available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine/
We are proud to care for you. Thank you for helping us to maintain our best care for all of you who need it most at this difficult time. Please stay safe.
