From Steve Ellis, Head of Primary Care, Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group
Be part of history – Volunteers sought for Covid-19 vaccine consent and prescribing
Dear Colleagues,
As you will know a vaccine has been approved as effective and safe which is fantastic news in the fight against COVID-19. Here in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, we are working hard to prepare for the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination delivery programme. However, it is important to note that at this stage we don’t know when the vaccine will arrive because of the security around it, for this reason it could happen very quickly. We also know there is currently no national Patient Group Directive (PGD) to enable non-prescribing nurses to consent and give the vaccine, and during the early stages of vaccine delivery (week 1-3) we will need doctors and full-prescribing nurses to check for contraindications via a simple checklist, prescribe the vaccine and oversee the process.
Therefore, we are urgently looking for volunteers among our medical and nursing colleagues to come forward and play your part in this vaccine delivery programme.
You need to be fully registered so you can prescribe, be able to be released by your practice or have a day off for the times you are volunteering. To ensure staff are correctly trained and prepared, we are looking for a commitment to do 6-12 hour shifts from as early as Tuesday to Friday next week (w/c 7th December). Even single or half days would be helpful! Please be aware, that should the PGD arrive, you may be stood down at short notice and I would like to thank you for your understanding if that happens. Likewise, it is also possible that the PGD may arrives late, in which case, we will be asking for volunteers to continue volunteering and/or more volunteers to come forward. It is important that we legally prescribe this vaccine so we can get the first few thousands of doses given, and we can all have confidence in the process for both our staff and our people.
If you are considering this or would like more details, please send your expression of interest, noting your availability next week onwards, to people@stwtogether.co.uk
Thank you so much for your participation in this historic piece of work.
Keep safe, and thank you for the continuing good work to keep our patients safe.
Steve Ellis
Head of Primary Care
Primary Care Directorate
Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group
Oak Lodge, Mytton Oak Road, Shrewsbury SY3 8XL
steve.ellis@nhs.net
www.shropshireccg.nhs.uk
www.telfordccg.nhs.uk
Direct Tel: 01743 277517
Internal: Ext 2591
Mobile: 07976 917229