Lambourn Surgery Patient Participation Group Newsletter, Sept 2022

Autumn Vaccination Programme

Planning is well under way for the Autumn Vaccination Programme for both Flu and a booster vaccination for Covid.

In general terms the same people are eligible to receive both vaccines. In the case of the Covid booster you must already have had at least the first two doses.

Those eligible are: – people aged 50 years and over, those in care homes, and those aged 5 years and over in clinical risk groups.

For Lambourn Surgery patients only, clinics will be held at the Walwyn Hall in Lambourn that will enable eligible patients to receive both vaccinations at the same appointment. Appointments for these clinics will be by invitation, you will receive a text message or letter or phone call inviting you to make an appointment at a clinic on one of the following dates.

Saturday 8th October 2022

Saturday 22nd October 2022

Saturday 5th November 2022

The clinics will run from 8.30am – 1.30pm.

Please do not contact the surgery re these clinics, wait for your invitation. Housebound patients will be contacted by the surgery.

Eligible patients who are unable to attend one of these clinics will be able to use the National Booking System to make an appointment for their Covid booster at other vaccination centres or registered pharmacies. Like many other surgeries, Lambourn Surgery will not be offering the National Booking System, in order to concentrate resources on routine services.

For Flu vaccinations, catch up clinics will be held as necessary after the main ones, or they may be offered opportunistically for patients attending the surgery for other reasons.

Early Diagnosis of Cancers

Further to previous messages regarding cancer screening, I am pleased to report that Lambourn Surgery, for the first time since 2019, achieved its cervical smear target for women aged 25-49, of over 80% screened. This has been an incredibly difficult target to achieve as this age group has traditionally been reluctant to attend screening. The surgery now has a dedicated ex nurse who has been working on this and proactively calls each patient and books them in there and then. In the past, centrally produced letters were relied upon, but have become less effective. The nurse is able to explain the process, reassure and encourage this group of patients to attend and this has now paid off. Congratulations to the team and we hope this proactive move will improve the response rate even further and of course ensure early detection of cervical cancer.

Remember

In order that our surgery can provide care to those most in need please consider consulting with a pharmacist or calling 111 or using the online service www.111.nhs.uk for straightforward medical advice.

You can contact the PPG via email; ppgchairpersonlambourn@gmail.com or in writing via the surgery office (Bockhampton Road, Lambourn, RG17 8PS) addressed to the Chair of the PPG.

Alan Breadmore, Chair, Lambourn Surgery PPG