If your child is still needing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 the following pharmacies still have availability:

6 month – 4 year olds:

•  Stubley Medical Centre

5-17 Year olds:

• Stubley Medical Centre
• Tideswell Pharmacy
• Jaysons Pharmacy
• Vision Pharmacy 
• Good Life Pharmacy
• Brimington Pharmacy
• Medicine Stop Pharmacy
• Saviour Pharmacy (formally John Dents)
• Saviour Pharmacy

The groups to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine:

• Residents in a care home for older adults.
• All adults aged 65 years and over.
• Persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, this includes pregnant women and those younger adults living in residential care.

How can I protect myself?

The best way to protect yourself from flu is to have your FREE Flu vaccine every year.

Where can I get my Flu vaccine?

Everybody who is eligible for a Free Flu vaccine can get one at their GP Practice – Book your appointment as soon as possible. 

Carers

If you receive a carer’s allowance or are the primary carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare would be affected if you were ill, you can also receive a Free flu vaccine.

What is Flu?

Flu is not just a bad cold! It is a very infectious disease with symptoms that come on very quickly. Symptoms include; fever, chills, headache, aches and pains and extreme tiredness, making you feel exhausted and too unwell to carry on as normal.

Q. Will the vaccine give me flu?

A. No. The injectable vaccine contains an inactive form of the virus which cannot cause flu. Some people may have a sore arm and mild aches and pains which should only last 48 hours.

Q. Is the vaccine safe?

A. Yes. The vaccine is known to be very safe and can be given to babies and very elderly people with very few problems.

Q. Do I need a Flu vaccine every year?

A. Yes. The flu virus can change every year. Flu vaccines are updated each winter to give protection against the strains of flu that are most likely to be going around. This is why it is strongly recommended that you get vaccinated every year.

Q. I think I have already had flu. Do I still need a vaccination?

A. Yes. There is more than one type of flu virus, the vaccine will help to protect you against other flu viruses.

Q. Can flu be treated with antibiotics?

A. No. Flu is a virus and the only way to be really protected is with a flu vaccine

Q. Where can I get more information about the flu vaccine in pregnancy?

A. Through your GP, midwife or nurse vaccinator at the trust you are booked to have your baby. There is also lots of information you can access on the NHS website The flu jab in pregnancy - NHS (www.nhs.uk

If you are immunosuppressed or may become immunosuppressed.

Why is this important for you?

People who are immunosuppressed, are more likely to become seriously ill if they catch flu and are nearly 50 times more likely to die from complications of having flu than healthy people.

If you are pregnant or become pregnant during the flu season, 1st September 2024 to 31st March 2025.

Why is this important in pregnancy?

If you catch flu whilst you are pregnant it can put your baby at risk of being born early, being a lower weight at birth, being a smaller size and of stillbirth. Having the vaccine may lower these risks if you get flu.

Having the flu vaccine can also protect your baby in the first few months of life when they are at their most helpless. If you catch flu whilst you are pregnant, it can be more serious, you are at a higher risk of developing problems such as bronchitis and pneumonia. These complications can lead to an increased risk of admission to intensive care for both your baby and you.

If you have kidney disease.

Why is this important for you?

People who have kidney disease are more likely to become seriously ill from flu if they catch it and are over 18 times more likely to die from complications of having flu than healthy people.

If you have liver disease

Why is this important for you?

People who have liver disease are more likely to become seriously ill from flu if they catch it and are nearly 50 times more likely to die from complications of having flu than healthy people.

Flu can make liver disease worse if you are waiting for a liver transplant and can increase the chance of rejection for people who have had a liver transplant.

Having liver disease can limit the types of drugs you can have to treat flu and any complications. It may mean spending time in hospital and taking a long time to recover from flu and the effects of the treatment

If you have neurological disease.

Why is this important for you?

People who have neurological conditions are more likely to become seriously ill if they catch flu. The risk depends on the condition you have but some affected are 40 times more likely to die from complications of having flu than healthy people.

Some neurological conditions make breathing harder and if you catch flu, you are more likely to develop pneumonia and may need to spend time in hospital.

If you have Multiple Sclerosis flu could make your symptoms worse and may trigger a relapse.

People who have communication difficulty may be unable to tell their carer that they feel unwell, which may lead to a delay in them receiving treatment.

Children and young people eligible for the flu vaccination because they fall into the “at risk” category can also be vaccinated in general practice

For additional information regarding the Seasonal Flu Programme 2024/25 please refer to: Annual flu programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Students who are not in mainstream education (e.g. home educated) should be vaccinated by the SAIS, if their date of birth falls within a school programme cohort

POST 16 VACCINATIONS

The Men ACWY vaccination can be offered opportunistically for those up to the age of 25 who have not previously had a Men C containing vaccine since the age of 10.There is no upper age limit for catch up of Td/IPV
Girls aged 16 -25 years of age can be opportunistically offered/caught up with the HPV vaccination in general practice. Please note that girls commencing the course over the age of 15 years no longer require a three-dose course of this vaccine.
Please be aware that the HPV catch-up for boys applies only to those who were eligible for the vaccine in school year 8 at commencement of this programme in 2019/20, therefore those born on or after 01/09/2006. 

The Partners and management team wish to reassure patients there are no changes to the number of appointments offered to our patients.

We do recognise funding of General Practice requires urgent attention to ensure safe sustainable NHS services for our patients.

We continue to make all efforts to provide the best patient care with the resources we have available.

The number of whooping cough (pertussis) cases continues to rise, with 1319 cases confirmed in England for March 2024, compared with 858 cases in the whole of 2023. The pertussis infection can be very serious and can result in hospitalisation and even death in babies who are too young to start their vaccinations.

Sadly, between January and March 2024, there have been 5 infant deaths, across England, from whooping cough and the NHS is urging pregnant women to come forward for their vaccination.

The pertussis vaccination given in pregnancy provides protection for pregnant women and young babies against this very serious illness.

• We know that people may be concerned about their own health following recent media coverage, so we have set up a new online resource for patients and the public to find help and support - https://nhs.uk/infected-blood-support
• Since 1991, all blood donated in the UK is screened and distributed by NHS Blood and Transplant following rigorous safety standards and testing to protect both donors and patients.
• Since testing has been introduced, the risk of getting an infection from a blood transfusion or blood products is very low. 
• All blood donors are screened at every donation and every donation is tested before it is sent to hospitals. Blood services and blood safety has been transformed, not only in terms of technological advances in testing but also in the way donors are recruited and checked they are safe to donate.
• Given the time that has elapsed since the last use of infected blood products, most of those who were directly affected have been identified and started appropriate treatment. However, there may be a small number of patients where this is not the case, and particularly where they are living with asymptomatic hepatitis C
• If you are concerned about a possible hepatitis C infection, you can book a home NHS test online. The tests are free and confidential. To receive a self-testing kit which can be quickly dispatched to your home visit hepctest.nhs.uk.
• Hepatitis B is also linked to infected blood, this usually clears up on its own without treatment, but could develop into chronic hepatitis B.  Patients can find out more information here - hepatitis B information
• HIV testing is also provided to anyone free of charge on the NHS.  Home testing and home sampling kits are also available.  You can find out more about HIV testing and the HIV testing services search tool on the NHS website.
• Patients who want more details about the safety of blood from donations in England can find more information here:  https://www.blood.co.uk/the-donation-process/further-information/your-safety/

The Surgery would like to invite you to use the NHS App

The new, simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet.

Download on App Store
Download on Google Play Store

Patients who are concerned that they may be at risk of hepatitis C can now do a simple test at home to find out if they have hepatitis C using the new hepatitis C testing website.