Flu Campaign 2022/23

Information about flu vaccine supplies.

People who are most at risk from the complications of flu are recommended to get a flu vaccine every year. This winter it is especially important with flu and coronavirus (COVID-19) both in circulation. Research shows that if you get both at the same time you may be more seriously ill.

Vaccine administering is restricted to patients who are eligible only. Please refer to the Government link here to find out more https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-vaccines-for-the-current-season/flu-vaccines-for-the-2022-to-2023-season#eligible-groups

The eligible groups are as follows (in line with Government guidance)

• aged 2 and 3 years on 31 August 2022
• school aged children (all primary school aged children (reception year to year 6) and eligible secondary school aged children)
• those aged 6 months to under 50 years in clinical risk groups
• pregnant women
• Healthy 50 to 64-year olds (Strict guidance is that this cohort will not be offered this until after 15 October 2022)
• all those aged 65 years and over
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers / in receipt of carer’s allowance / or main carer of an older or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline health and social care staff

Why should I have my flu vaccine at my GP? Swallownest Health Centre supports you as our patient, and as such a flu vaccine has already been ordered (in September 2021) for all our registered patients who are eligible to receive one. Therefore, if you fall within any of the eligible categories, we will actually have a vaccine with your name on (so to speak). We have to do this and assure NHS England we have enough vaccines for everyone. We have to buy the vaccines for you and we can only return limited numbers that go unused, and the rest have to paid for by the surgery. Please come to receive your vaccination with us, YOUR local GP surgery, we have bought your vaccine and want to protect you!

We operate as an independent and individual organisation, and therefore are not working in association with any other organisation in offering flu vaccines. We offer a setting where we can check your medical records and documented allergies and make sure you get the most suitable vaccine. We also have medical staff at hand, all of which help with safe administering of your vaccine.

We can offer protection for those who may be forgetful by reducing the risk of duplication in vaccines being administered

We offer a fast, efficient and friendly flu clinic service with your local surgery team (and we really enjoy our drop-in flu clinic sessions, it gives us a nice break from our ‘normal’ work)

We can ensure continuity of care for our patients and carers (we know you already).

How do I make my appointment? We don’t add clinics to our clinical system until our vaccines have been delivered and are in our fridges. At which point we will add and will be sending out text messages where you can click on the link to book an appointment. You don’t need to be signed up to online access to do this. We did last year, and it was a success and also eases any burden on our phone lines. Please note that we will not send text messages to everyone at once. We will do this in stages in line with our clinics available, so please be patient.

Can I make a call or visit the health centre to book an appointment for my flu vaccine? Yes you can, we would recommend that you contact us after 2pm if you need to call to book, as our phone lines are quieter at this time. Please note that appointments will not all be added at once, we will be adding in stages whilst we monitor our stock, staffing and other duties. We will do our best to provide a variety of appointments including early morning and later afternoons to support patient access. We are looking to have 2 weekend dates also.

I have an appointment at the Health Centre for something else, can I have my vaccine whilst I am there? Yes of course if the clinician has the time and if you are eligible. Please check with the clinician.

What will happen when I arrive? Please prepare by removing any coats or jumpers. This will make the process easier and quicker for all.

How is this different to normal? We are conducting our flu clinics the way that we have the last couple of years, as this has worked really well for us and our patients. We will be having 2 weekend dates (TBC) and we will also have a variety of appointments during the day with Healthcare Assistants.

What do I need to do? We would recommend that you wear a face mask to protect any vulnerable patients and staff, ensure you wash your hands before and after, DO NOT attend if you or a close contact have symptoms or have had contact with a suspected/confirmed case of Covid.

What about car parking? To ease the pressure in the car park, if you are able to walk to the centre, we would strongly advise you to.

How long will it take? Appointments are very quick, and you will be asked a couple of questions by the clinician to enable them to know if you are ok to have the vaccine.

Will I just be offered my flu vaccination? We are unable to offer covid vaccinations here, however we can confirm that they are being offered at Anston, amongst many other sites. Appointments for these are available on the National Booking Service https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/  Please note that you are able to have Covid and flu vaccinations on the same day as it is completely safe. We would also be able to offer you the pneumonia vaccine if you are eligible and haven’t already had it. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pneumococcal-vaccination/

We regularly contact patients with regards to pneumonia and also shingles vaccines. We do not administer shingles vaccines with our flu vaccines.

What do I do after I’ve had my vaccination? Following your vaccine, you should be able to leave immediately.

Not eligible for NHS flu vaccination? Unfortunately, we are not able to give flu vaccinations to patients who are not eligible under the NHS programme. However, you are able to pay get the flu vaccination at a pharmacy.

Housebound patients

We have a team who will be supporting us in our housebound flu vaccines. You do not need to do anything to trigger your flu vaccination.  You will be contacted by the team who will be administering these. These will begin in September. Your GP knows which patients are housebound.

Childrens Nasal Flu

Please note that we are shortly be inviting all eligible children for  the Nasal Flu, unfortunately we are only allowed to order in stages so have to limit the number of invitations we send out at any one time.  Please DO NOT contact the surgery to enquire we will be contacting the parents of Children who are eligible in due course. If your child has received theirs at school or you wish to decline, please let us know so we can offer to another child.

Should you wish to read more regarding facts about flu and the flu vaccine, please copy and paste the link below into your browser https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/flu-influenza-vaccine/

We would like to thank you for your continued co-operation, understanding and support.

Swallownest Health Centre