Spring 2024 Covid Vaccination Campaign
This year Rutland Health Primary Care Network (PCN) will be organising and delivering the covid vaccination for patients who are housebound or living in a care home. This season starts 15th April and continues until 30th June 2024. The vaccination will be offered to all eligible patients who are
- Aged 75 years and older
- Live in a care home
- Aged 6 months and older with a weakened immune system
Patients who are able to attend their GP surgery will receive a text message or letter from their surgery to invite them to book an appointment. Please follow the instructions and advice provided by your GP surgery.
All patients must wait three months since their last covid vaccination before they are eligible to have a vaccination. Administrators and vaccinators will check this prior to you having your vaccination.
What if I am housebound?
Rutland Health PCN are organising visits to all patients who are housebound. Patients will be visited based on where they live, so all patients living in the same area regardless of their GP surgery will be visited on the same day(s).
Oakham and Uppingham are larger areas so we have split these areas into smaller groups. For example, Oakham has been split into North, South, East and West groups as this will help reduce the amount of time driving between multiple locations.
The day before a vaccinator and admin staff are due to visit, you will receive a phone call confirming you would like the vaccination and the date we will be coming. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide an exact time but may be able to tell you on the phone if we are likely to be visiting you in the morning or afternoon.
If you have not heard from Rutland Health PCN by the 14th June, please contact your GP surgery. We are aiming to have seen all patients by this date and have June as a chance to see any patients who have delayed their vaccination due to ill health or who are newly housebound.
Plans can and do change so everyone at Rutland Health PCN and the four GP surgeries are working hard to ensure this campaign runs smoothly. If a vaccinator or admin staff is poorly on the day of your vaccination, we will call to inform you and we will organise a new date once we have the confirmed staff.
My family speak on my behalf, will they be contacted?
If you have a preferred contact (a family member or friend) who is recorded on your GP record, we will contact this person instead to update them about your appointment. The GP surgery must have received consent from you as the patient first.
What if I am new to being coded as a housebound?
If we have not visited your area yet, we will add you onto the specific date for your location. If the date has passed, we will continue to make sure everyone is vaccinated by 30th June 2024.
What if I am poorly on the day of my vaccination?
If you are unwell on the day of the vaccination, please call your GP surgery to inform the Patient Services Team who will send us an urgent message. We will do our best to respond to these messages and update the team visiting the area. Hopefully this will let you rest and recover. We will then add you onto our list to vaccinate after the routes have been completed. As always, we will call the day before to check you are well enough for our next planned visit.
I have a family member who lives in a care home, when will they be vaccinated?
All care homes in Rutland have been contacted with a date the vaccinator and admin staff are due to attend. We understand people may be poorly so if a person misses their vaccination, we will ensure they have their vaccination by the end of the campaign. Care homes have regular contact with the GP surgeries so any questions which are raised by family can be addressed in a timely manner.
Resources
The NHS have created ‘A guide to the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination campaign’. This will be handed to every patient after they have had their vaccination.