Agenda item

The Board considered a presentation from Jo Reeves (Agenda Item 5) relating to the Vaccination Programme. Key points from the presentation were as follows:

·         All residents aged 18+ could book a booster three months after their second vaccine.

·         12-15 year olds were able to book a second vaccine 12 weeks after their first or wait for a school visit.

·         The national aim was to offer a booster dose to all adults by 31 December.

·         Work was ongoing with system partners to match supply and demand.

·         New sites were being brought online for boosters and capacity was being increased at existing sites.

·         Workforce gaps were being addressed with Council staff being redeployed.

·         The Hungerford pop-up clinic had been extended to 22 December and discussions were ongoing about whether it could be extended further. This offered first doses to 12-15 year olds, first and second doses to 16-17 year olds, and first, second and booster doses to those aged 18+. 5,335 vaccines had been delivered by 19 December.

·         Thanks were given to Councillors Doherty and Vickers for volunteering.

·         The Health on the Move Van had been cancelled, since it could not operate safely due to the level of demand. The team was looking to see how residents in isolated communities could be served (e.g. pop-ups run by local pharmacies, more walk-in availability, etc).

·         The list of sites in West Berkshire and neighbouring areas was highlighted.

·         More slots were being added through the national booking system, so people were encouraged to keep checking for availability.

·         52% of people aged 12+ had received a booster jab – this was better than for England as a whole.

·         The Kennet Centre pharmacy was praised for conducting 10,000 vaccinations in 4 days.

The Chairman asked what proportion of the eligible population had received a booster jab. Jo Reeves indicted that this figure was 59.1%.

Councillor Lynne Doherty asked how members of the public could volunteer to support local pop-up clinics. Jo Reeves suggested that people should sign up through the Royal Voluntary Service, which had an app showing the locations and roles where help was being sought and the shifts that were available. She also noted that Hungerford had its own local system and offered to circulate a link to the sign-up sheet.

Councillor Doherty asked about providing boosters for rough sleepers. Jo Reeved confirmed that a team from Thatcham Medical Practice had provided vaccinations to 25 people at the Newbury Soup Kitchen on 9 December. Some had also used the clinic in the Kennet Centre. In addition, the Health on the Move Van had visited the Two Saints hostel and vaccinated 25 people. She indicated that she would liaise with the Housing Manager to confirm the requirements for future vaccinations.

Councillor Doherty thanked the A34 Primary Care Network for participating in the vaccination programme.

Councillor Martha Vickers thanked Jo Reeves for her hard work on the Hungerford Clinic. She noted that morale had been good despite the long queues. She had also been impressed by the Kennet Centre who had tried to accommodate walk-in vaccinations between appointments.

Councillor Steve Masters asked about car parking charges for volunteers.  Councillor Doherty confirmed that Newbury Station car park had been offered to volunteers at the Kennet Centre. She also indicated that volunteers could claim back expenses, including parking.

Councillor Jo Stewart indicated that she had used the Triangle Pharmacy in Tilehurst for her vaccinations and asked if these would be recorded in the West Berkshire figures even though the pharmacy was in Reading Borough. Jo Reeves confirmed that the figures were based on the home address of the person being vaccinated.

The Chairman asked if issues affecting data for West of Reading Villages surgeries had been resolved. Jo Reeves confirmed that all surgeries were using the Pinnacle system which fed through to the national service.

Nigel Lynn confirmed that 20 out of 48 homeless households in west Berkshire  had been vaccinated.

Katie Summers highlighted that patients were no longer being asked to wait for 15 minutes after having received a vaccination or booster. This would allow capacity to be greatly increased. She also confirmed that people who chose to have a booster in another part of the UK over the Christmas period would still be recorded on their own GP’s system. In addition, she praised the collaboration between the health sector, Council and voluntary sector in getting the Hungerford site up and running, which had attracted widespread praise from service users.

Councillor Masters asked about plans for other pop-ups in Thatcham or areas to the east of the District. Katie Summers confirmed that the first priority from the National Team was to have as many normal NHS sites as possible; the second priority was around communications of booster opportunities; and the third priority was around additional opportunities provided through pop-up clinics. Modelling work was underway to identify suitable locations for pop-ups to be provided early in 2022.

Councillor Masters asked if Afghan refugees staying in West Berkshire were being vaccinated. Katie Summers confirmed that GP clinical leads would be visiting the three hotel sites.

The Chairman asked about vaccination of care home staff and residents, and vaccination of NHS staff. Andy Sharp confirmed that all care homes had been visited as part of the vaccination programme – there had been strong take-up amongst residents, but less than 40% of care home had received a booster jab, although there was a time lag on the data. Details of homes with particularly low take-up had been provided to the CCG with a view to arranging a further visit to these sites. A communication had also gone out to all care homes to encourage greater take-up of the booster.

The Chairman asked about the requirement of care-home staff to be vaccinated. Andy Sharp confirmed that all care-home staff must have two doses of the vaccine, but there was no current legal requirement for to have a booster.

Councillor Masters asked if there were issues with Covid-related sickness amongst care-home staff and what contingency measures were in place should this reach a critical rate. Andy Sharp confirmed that the Council did not track data for Covid rates in the external market, but he had not been alerted to any providers with staffing issues. Internally, there had been a few cases amongst staff, but the service had worked with Public Health to manage the situation and ensure that staff and residents were protected. He confirmed that all providers used agency staff to address any staffing shortfalls and while there was sufficient coverage now, this was a concern going forward, so contingency plans had been put in place.

Councillor Masters asked about discharge of patients from hospital and how the domiciliary care market was holding up. He also asked if hospitals had sufficient capacity. Andy Sharp stated that there was pressure in the domiciliary care market with a higher number of hours to be commissioned than the service would like. He indicated that the sector had been experiencing workforce challenges for some time and had been further affected by Covid. The Council was working with providers to ensure that people were not waiting too long for care. Katie Summers confirmed 72% of staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital had been given a Covid booster jab, with an additional clinic run earlier that day.  She agreed that there was a growing concern about staff being affected by Covid and if staff did not get boosters by the end of the year then this would translate into staffing issues by mid-January.