Thanks to Dr Neil Briscoe and Tracy Norton from Leek and Biddulph Primary Care Network for submitting this article. They say nobody will be left out of the local vaccine rollout and all targets will continue to be met.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic so many things in our world have changed…

At the beginning of 2021 Leek and Biddulph Primary Care Network (PCN) which unites five GP practices and a population of just over 50,000 started rolling out the Covid vaccination programme across two sites, one in Biddulph and one in Leek.

Nationally there are only a handful of PCNs with two sites (certainly we are the only one in North Staffordshire) and these are usually when a patient population is over 100,000 people, our PCN has only 50,000.

The fact we have these two sites in our locality is a real bonus; we are fortunate to have vaccination hubs that are so accessible, patients from some other PCNs have far longer journeys to make.

Both NHS England and the local Clinical Commissioning Group closely monitor the distribution and progress of each PCN and regulate vaccine supply based on that information. This is to ensure that every locality has a fair share of vaccines in a timely fashion.

It's reasonable to say that from a PCN perspective vaccine supply at the moment is variable and is often at short notice, which does makes planning difficult.

There may be a week when we hold a clinic at one site and not the other, and some weeks when we don't have any vaccination clinics at all. Although this may be frustrating, it does make sense in terms of the bigger picture.

You can be assured that no-one will be left out of the vaccine roll out and we will continue to meet all of the national vaccination targets

Any patients over 65 and over who for any reason have not yet had their vaccination can contact their GP or call 119 if they wish to be vaccinated.

For all other patients the message remains that patients should NOT call their Practice regarding their place in the queue.

Practices are unable to move patients into an earlier group to receive the vaccination and are following the priority grouping guidelines from NHSE.

If you have any questions about what group you are in, please call 119.

If you have had your first dose, when your second dose is due your GP practice will contact you to arrange your next appointment. Please do not contact your GP practice.

And finally, a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in this mammoth vaccination programme; clinicians, volunteer marshals, practice staff, retired GPs and the countless others who are working so hard to keep us safe and well.

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