Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east pensioners facing flu jabs delay as NHS Grampian ‘struggling to cope’ with demand

nhs highland
Health board staff are 'struggling to cope' with demand for flu jabs

Health board staff have admitted they are “struggling to cope” with demand for flu jabs following a surge in patients seeking the vaccine.

NHS Grampian said its dedicated flu vaccine telephone helpline and email address had experienced a surge in inquiries.

Some residents have found that the booking line for NHS Grampian patients is constantly engaged and are worried they will lose the opportunity to be vaccinated.

And others have received letters late, finding out their appointments were booked for a date before they opened their mail.

Demand has increased since the Scottish Government urged people eligible for the free jab to take up the offer and protect themselves over the winter to help the NHS avoid additional pressure.

New walk-in or drive-through centres have been set up in many areas within local facilities, such as town halls and community hubs, along with outreach programmes to try and ease the strain.

NHS Grampian said it is prioritising vaccines for the over 65s amid the surge in demand.

A nurse prepares to give a patient a flu jab

A spokeswoman for the health board said: “The telephone helpline and email address set up to support the public vaccination campaign has experienced a surge in inquiries that staff are struggling to cope with at present.

“This is due, in part, to the late arrival of appointment letters which we are working closely with Royal Mail to resolve.

“We are developing a solution to address the call and email backlog at pace and will be making arrangements to ensure all those who are eligible for the free flu jab and who may have missed appointments will have the opportunity to receive them.

“Our priority group at present is the over 65s, we know they are concerned and keen to get their vaccine. We want to reassure them that we are working hard to ensure they will receive it.”

‘It is vital that people have access to the flu vaccine’

Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett has written to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman urging her to address concerns over the availability of flu vaccinations ahead of winter.

He said one of his constituents had received a letter confirming an appointment in Aboyne, only to find the slot was for the day before.

He wrote: “This year it is vital that people have access to the flu vaccine. However, many constituents have been in touch with me to say they are facing difficulty with this year’s flu vaccination programme.

“Whilst many eligible constituents have not yet received their appointment letters, some people are receiving their letters after their scheduled appointment has already taken place.

“In addition, they have reported that the contact telephone number is constantly engaged, and they receive an automatic response to their emails stating that a response cannot be guaranteed within 48 hours.

“This is very distressing to those waiting for their appointment, many of whom are on the shielding list and would like to receive their vaccine as soon as possible.”

Vaccine offered to more people than ever due to Covid-19

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “This year the vaccine is being offered to more people than ever to address the additional risk posed by coronavirus.

“As it is the largest flu vaccination programme ever offered in Scotland and it is happening in the middle of a pandemic, we accept there have been some challenges. We are working closely with the boards to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.

“We have procured enough vaccine to vaccinate all those who are eligible, modelled on demand of 2.4 million people.

“We are working closely with boards to ensure the elderly, those most at risk and health and social care workers are prioritised.

“To vaccinate more people safely, the way in which vaccines are being delivered is different from previous years and may not be at a GP surgery. These may include new walk-in or drive-through centres such as town halls and community hubs, along with outreach programmes for the sole purpose of delivering the free flu jab.

“GPs will continue to play an important role in the seasonal flu immunisation programme with more than a quarter of these vaccines being delivered through GP surgeries.”

 

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.