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Covid

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Original poster

Covid vaccine - letter from GP

17 replies

Meredithgrey1 · 14/12/2020 15:36

DH and I both got a letter from our GP surgery saying they had been chosen as a vaccine hub for the area. The letter gave our contact details and said we must get in touch to tell them if the number they have for us is wrong, as they’ll probably be booking vaccine slots at short notice due to not knowing how much vaccine they’ll get and when, so they’ll text out slots to people.
At the bottom it had two “tickets” to be cut off and kept, one for vaccine dose one, one for vaccine dose two. They had our name, DoB on it and it made it clear “no ticket, no vaccine”.

DH and I are in our twenties, no health issues, and not in any job that would need a vaccine, so weren’t anticipating getting the vaccine for absolutely ages. I’m assuming we still won’t get it for ages, I’m just surprised we were even on the list for a letter at this stage.
Have other GP surgeries done things like this? Is ours just very pre-prepared? Or has everyone got something like this and I’m just unaware?

OP posts:

notevenat20 · 14/12/2020 15:44

They may have done this for everyone on their books. In that case, they wouldn't actually invite you in any time soon.

Original poster

Meredithgrey1 · 14/12/2020 15:47

@notevenat20

They may have done this for everyone on their books. In that case, they wouldn't actually invite you in any time soon.

Oh, yes I’m not expecting to be vaccinated anytime soon! I’m now more stressed about losing the “tickets”!

OP posts:

Hayeahnobut · 14/12/2020 15:49

It does seem like overkill to send this out so early, many people will lose the letter by the time they get an appointment.

ineedaholidaynow · 14/12/2020 15:52

Our GP surgery have just phoned the people who they are giving appointments to now

notevenat20 · 14/12/2020 15:52

Oh, yes I’m not expecting to be vaccinated anytime soon! I’m now more stressed about losing the “tickets”!

Take a photo :)

Mindymomo · 14/12/2020 16:22

I presume they have written to you because they don’t have mobile numbers to text details of vaccine details. We have received 2 texts giving updates.

Original poster

Meredithgrey1 · 14/12/2020 16:36

@Mindymomo

I presume they have written to you because they don’t have mobile numbers to text details of vaccine details. We have received 2 texts giving updates.

What did your updates say? The letters we received contained our mobile numbers, they said we needed to make sure they were correct, as that’s how they’ll contact us regarding any vaccine appointment.

OP posts:

Hardbackwriter · 14/12/2020 16:36

@Hayeahnobut

It does seem like overkill to send this out so early, many people will lose the letter by the time they get an appointment.

They're also going to get some people who start ringing them regularly to ask when their appointment will be - I think they'll regret sending it out, especially since it sounds like it didn't have a clear message that this didn't mean it was necessarily imminent! Some people will definitely take it that that means it'll be soon.

ChequerBoard · 14/12/2020 16:39

This is what happens when you let each primary care network develop its own processes for vaccination management.

Paper tickets, bloody hell why not send you each two raffle tickets and have done with it?

Original poster

Meredithgrey1 · 14/12/2020 16:45

Yeah it wasn’t clear on times at all. Which is fair enough, they don’t know the time frames of course. Because DH and I know we’ll be bottom of the queue we know it won’t be for ages, but if you were in one of the top groups it definitely gives an impression that you could get an appointment any day now, when that’s surely not the case for the majority of even the people in the first few groups.

OP posts:

SingANewSongChickenTikka · 14/12/2020 18:47

Our surgery is a vaccine hub, starting this week. No letters, but they have been posting updates on social media.

QueenOfTheDoubleWide · 14/12/2020 18:51

I suspect this is just a way of:
a) Ensuring they have the correct numbers for you
b) Letting people know this is underway to stop them ringing up and wasting time by asking

MrsMigginsMate · 14/12/2020 18:56

Agree with PP, paper tickets is a bit amateur. I worked in hospital outpatients clinics and we used to get at least 5 or 6 people a day who forgot their letter, or scribbled their shopping list all over it and torn it off rendering the letter unreadable. Patients and paper don't mix in my experience! Not so important for an appointment letter as you can always verify it by asking name address etc, but to rely completely on a ticketing system for a vaccine is a recipe for disaster.

Chaotic45 · 14/12/2020 19:14

I bet GP's struggle with people forgetting to update them with new mobile numbers so they want to make sure now that they have up to date numbers for everyone, even those at bath back of the vaccine queue.

The tickets seem like a way of proving your identity as they have been sent to your actual address.

I guess the vaccine may be in great demand which opens the possibility of people trying to get it via unscrupulous means- not something that GP's usually have to deal with. So some way of verifying your identity makes sense.

A centralised consistent approach would be better but who can blame GPs for taking this into their own hands rather than relying on the government!

Madcats · 14/12/2020 19:16

I think I am about 10 millionth in the queue, but it does seem to be sensible to have a list of reserves patients who can get to a vaccine centre with 10-15 minutes' notice if they have a spate of "no shows".

Sadly I suspect their motive was less sophisticated.

notevenat20 · 14/12/2020 19:33

It's like the line of succession. It's nice to know you are on the list :)

LethargicLumpOfLockdownLard · 14/12/2020 19:36

@ChequerBoard

This is what happens when you let each primary care network develop its own processes for vaccination management.

Paper tickets, bloody hell why not send you each two raffle tickets and have done with it?

This. I work in general practice and our PCN is nowhere near this organised or proactive, but I'm not sure tickets are going to work if people can't use them for months. So many will get lost and that will cause extra work in the end.

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