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The NHS and its partners are working extremely hard to roll out the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme to our communities.

All adults are eligible from Monday 13 December, and you will be able to book via the National Booking System from Wednesday 15 December.

You can book your booster for 3 months from the date of second vaccine, and you can access the National Booking System to book the appointment from 2 months.

We are working at pace to increase the availability of appointments so that there are plenty of options for people on the National Booking System. Some local vaccination services will also contact patients directly.

New appointments are being added every day across our vaccination services. Further availability will come online from Wednesday 15 December.

We will be working with all of our sites to take further steps to increase what they can offer again, including opening later and on more days.

All of these appointments will be added to the National Booking System and so we encourage everyone who is aged 18 and over, is yet to have their booster and who is approaching 3 months from your second vaccine to use the National Booking System to arrange your appointment when you are able to do so.

In terms of any planned appointments with Swallownest Health Centre, there are no changes at the current time and everyone should attend your planned appointments as normal. If we need to make any changes, we will contact you directly.

See more about the vaccination programme in South Yorkshire, including the vaccination services: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Dear Patients,

The last 18 months have been challenging for the S26 community as a whole. As a practice we have had to adapt and find new ways to deal with the risks posed by the pandemic.  We feel grateful to be part of a community that has pulled together through these challenging times.

We have recently undergone our routine CQC inspection, the report of which can be found on our website.  We continue to make improvements wherever we can to our services; we acknowledge that there are a number of areas which we need to improve on.  We have already taken steps to address many of the issues and will take more action to identify and address those areas that still require further improvement.

As a practice we have always been proud to be at the heart of the S26 community.  Please be assured that the health centre will continue to work hard to adapt to the changes needed and will strive to address those areas highlighted in the report.  We appreciate the support we have had from our community as we endeavour to meet these challenges.

Please refer to the graph below to show the number of appointments that were booked where patients didn’t attend which includes the details for November 2021.

We appreciate that emergencies happen but we need patients to understand what the effects of not contacting us to cancel their appointment are:

• An increase in the waiting time for appointments
  • Frustration for other patients who are not able to obtain an appointment
  • A waste of time and money i.e. precious NHS resources
  • A potential risk to the health of the patient

We regularly review the number of appointments which are missed and contact the patients who miss their appointment to help us to understand the reasons why.

Patients will be given an opportunity to improve on their attendance however if this doesn’t materialise, we may decide to remove them from the practice list and advise them to register elsewhere.

To cancel your appointment please contact us on 0114 4333888 or contact [email protected]

Think! – someone else may be in need of this appointment. 

You will have seen in the news yesterday that the Covid booster programme is being expanded to include 18 - 39 year olds and the timescale reduced. Please do not phone the surgery to enquire about this as we are unable to book appointments for the vaccine. The NHS will contact you when it is your turn to have the booster jab.

As a practice, we are fully committed to the sustainability and reduction of our carbon footprint. We have signed up to being a ‘Greener Practice’ and will be working with both our staff and patients to improve our carbon footprint.

Greener practice website

Green Impact For Health Toolkit

GP practices provided 7,142,420 appointments for a population of just over 61 million people in England. That’s two appointments for every 17 people. In 2019, in the same week, the demand was for just under 6.7 million appointments for a population of just over 60 million; that’s two appointments for every 18 people. That represents an increase of 6.3%.

During September, GP appointment data indicates that 28.7 million appointments were provided; that’s the equivalent of 47% of the population in England having one appointment each. That’s one appointment per two people in one month.

While we’re talking about the number of appointments provided by GP practices, it’s worth noting that between 2019 and today, the number of GPs in general practice has decreased.

Face coverings and social distancing are still mandatory in healthcare settings. This is to help protect vulnerable patients and staff. Please kindly respect the rules to protect others and enable the Health Centre to remain open.