Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Ian Tompkins from the West Essex Commissioning Group regarding West Essex NHS: Who we are, where we are, what we do and our future plans. How you can help us, help you.

The Director of Corporate Services for the NHS West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Ian Tompkins gave an update on the following;

·         Vaccination programme;

·         Booster Phase;

·         Vaccinations with Schools; and

·         Publicity for the programme.

He advised that the vaccination programme had now been offered to all eligible age’s groups for both first and second vaccinations. The take up for the vaccination in District  for the older age groups had been good, although for various reasons the younger age groups were still trailing. In a bid to increase uptake, walk-in and mobile clinics were being provided at Loughton Leisure Centre, Waltham Abbey Leisure Centre and Chigwell. 

The booster phase of the covid vaccinations would begin shortly and would coincide with the flu vaccination programme. It was noted that everyone over the age of 50 would start to be contacted by either their GP’s or they would be able to register through the national NHS website to book their booster vaccination.

In additional, the School immunisation programme was being run through the Essex Partnership Universities Trust and the local schools, which was delivering the vaccination programme to pupils aged between 12-15.

He stated that further encouragement was needed, in particular for residents aged between 30-39 and the Council had continued to assist by publicising the programme to the community through a variety of media outlets.

The Committee asked the following questions:

·         How would be the flu and covid booster vaccinations be administrated at the same time? Mr Tompkins advised that they could be given at the same time with a vaccination in each arm and this could be arranged through resident’s GP Practices.

·         Why were residents within Waltham Abbey having to travel to other areas to receive their vaccinations? Mr Tompkins advised that practices within the local area may not have the capacity to provide vaccinations as well as all the normal services. Therefore to ensure that residents were vaccinated they were sent to the nearest alternative venue.  

·         Would residents be contacted accordingly, to ensure that a 6-month period had occurred before their booster vaccination? Mr Tompkins advised that this was correct.

·         Would residents need to go to the same location as before? No. Mr Tompkins advised that if their GP’s contact them they would be able to visit their practice but if booked through the NHS website, a number of locations were provided, to ensure they were convenient.

·         Would the younger age groups receive the Pfizer vaccine? Yes, anyone under 40 age bracket would be given either Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. 

·         Were there any figures available for the different age groups vaccinated for Epping Forest?  Mr Tompkins gave the following information;

* although certain age groups were still coming forward to receive their vaccination.

·         When would be flu vaccination be available? Mr Tompkins advised that the all the organisational elements were in place and supplies were imminent.

·         Would St Margert’s GP Practice be used as a booster venue? Yes, primary network providers would be providing the booster programme.

·         Were GP’s being encouraged to have face to face appointments? Mr Tompkins advised that they were hopefully that services would begin to return to face to face appointments, although some patients did prefer telephone and video which would remain.      

Finally, Mr Tompkins advised that following the fuel issues experience across the country, the CCG had activated their contingency plans to ensure services were maintained. He finished by advising that hospital were experiencing a higher demand for their services and there were a number of ways in which residents could contact the NHS for assistance such as GP practices, 101, Community Pharmacies and to note that staff that answered the telephones were also trained to triage patients to ensure they were referred to the most relevant service/person.