Group 6 appears to be able to book on line now

[Oaktree55]

Try this link you answer saying you don’t know if have any of the CEV conditions but then it lets you book if you’re in CV ie Group 6. Far quicker than waiting for GP’s to contact Grp 6.

www.nhs.uk/book-a-coronavirus-vaccination/do-you-have-an-nhs-number

FFS more GP bashing. I'm just going to copy and paste something I wrote on another thread:

GP here - I get all my information on which groups are being invited (apart from what we are currently asked to focus on which is group 6) from the news and Mumsnet. We are participating in the vaccinations, not running them. We don't know any more than you do and only find out if we've got vaccinations arriving next week on a Thursday or Friday. Thanks for giving me a laugh re: making a profit though, that was hilarious. Renting a space to give the jabs and then paying staff, overheads etc makes this a loss not a profit. But we want to help as much as we can so we suck it up.

We are not signposting people to the hubs because THEY ARE NOTHING TO DO WITH US.

NHS England are sending letters to the correct age groups to let them know they can book. These letters seem to be arriving about a week after these patients can actually start booking (I have learned this from Mumsnet, not from work). If it is further publicly advertised, it should be done by the government/media/public health. There could be tv adverts, radio adverts etc.

The option to book online through the national booking site is nothing to do with us and if we start publicly advising this then that will open us up to all sorts of work/queries/phonecalls/admin we genuinely don't have the time or staff to deal with.

@ExpulsoCorona um excuse me but I don’t write things unsupported by evidence. I cannot speak for your Practice but I can my own. My lovely local pharmacist who offers vaccinations had his whole service undermined two years ago for flu by the local GP practice. They wrote to all patients telling them it was preferable they took their flu jab at the GP Practice as the practice had their details.

I chatted to pharmacist about it and yes they were upset as they provide an excellent service and I found it very unprofessional and made a complaint saying so.

It seems to be happening with Covid vax too looking at my local Practices FB. Why aren’t people being directed ir offered the alternative of a mass hub when the hubs have capacity?

It’s inefficient.

I am working at hub that is doing four GP surgeries. It is run by and staffed by the GP staff. The building is free as it is owned by the CCG.

@ExpulsoCorona they may be nothing to do with you but it’s just common sense to point out to people there is an alternative of the National Hubs. Some people aren’t aware. It may not be your job to do so but it’s the community friendly thing to do on say a GP Practice FB page.

@Oaktree55 I agree people should be made aware of the mass vaccinating places but totally disagree that I need to be telling them this when I've got enough on my plate already. The letters that people get in the post do this job. This is the job of NHS England, public health, the media etc. I couldn't care less where people get their jab as long as they get it quickly and efficiently. As for flu jabs, we've had all sorts of problems with pharmacy handling and communication of the jabs but this isn't the time or place for that conversation.

[quote Oaktree55]@ExpulsoCorona they may be nothing to do with you but it’s just common sense to point out to people there is an alternative of the National Hubs. Some people aren’t aware. It may not be your job to do so but it’s the community friendly thing to do on say a GP Practice FB page.[/quote]
They get letters. When we start putting stuff on Facebook pages etc, we get patients calling us and asking us about these things. We have no idea what to say when it's nothing to do with us. We haven't got the resources to staff this, we have to focus on getting through our group 6 list. Group 6 is massive.

@ExpulsoCorona come off it a sentence on GP Practice Website or your FB page is all it takes with a link. The difference a few weeks might make to them getting a vax or waiting for GP to contact might be difference between catching it or not especially with us starting to open up Monday.

Not unreasonable and something GP’s should do for Community.

Group 6 has been handled badly both nationally and locally.

@ExpulsoCorona well my letters not here so it shows how inefficient the system is for Grp 6. It’s possible to book on line far earlier than letters arrive. Hubs are under capacity. This has knock on effect on lower groups. If GP’s cared they’d inform people, with appropriate wording eg “this may work, keep trying, it’s not run by us so please don’t contact us but it’s here in case, we’ll contact you soon but this may be quicker” despite the inconvenience.

@Oaktree55 I disagree. The vaccine roll out has been super complicated but spectacular. I really don't see how you can call it a disaster. The target to vaccinate all of group 6 is by 15th April and I reckon we'll do much better than that. You seem totally disinterested in my views though. You are totally ignoring my reasoning.

The hubs aren't sitting empty wasting vaccine. They are running efficiently hence lack of queues. We are not told when groups open up online. I get all of my knowledge of this on Mumsnet. Do you really think it's appropriate for me to say ' you may be able to book online or may get it from us quicker, not sure. I read it on Mumsnet'?

@edwinbear

Group 6 (confirmed by GP) and not eligible to book yet either. Mine also says I've missed my appointments, which isn't true, I've never received an appointment. The Group 6 roll out really is a farce. The roll out in general, is obviously, brilliant, but the way Group 6 are being dealt with is really poor.

I was a bit shocked to get text from gp this week. Was fairly sure I would be missed off group 6

Group 6 has been handled badly both nationally and locally

I completely agree OP. Anecdotally, from this thread, it seems the problem is the inconsistency with Group 6 - some have been 'allowed' to book with the National Service and others (including me), have not. It suggests that there is a method available for GP's to 'allow' their Group 6 patients to book via the National Service, but some are not granting that access - if that is due to financial incentive that would be a pretty poor show.

@ExpulsoCorona The vax rollout has been amazing however it’s become v inefficient at Group 6. The hubs near me have been calling in police etc as they’ve been running way under capacity.

I would expect as a medical professional that you should be better informed than me yes. Perhaps you need to take this up with your local Health Authority or relevant body in charge of the vaccination programme, so GP’s are better up to speed with communication.

Your responses have demonstrated exactly the problem and why I ended up posting on here to inform people.

Worked for me. I'm group 6 and tried it over a period of several days. The last time it just worked so someone must have put me on a list!

The problem with group 6 is that all previous groups have been able to book at big hubs and get going faster. Going through GP is a bottle neck so people are wondering why the vast majority can’t be just put on the main data base and use these hubs. It’s not a slur against GP but when lower age groups are being called before group 6 yes it is frustrating.

@edwinbear if there is a method, nobody has told us. I imagine it might be a bit like group 4 which NHS England was able to pull the data from our records (for those patients who allowed data sharing when they were asked a couple of years ago -quite a few opted out).

@Beaniecats looking at the general roll out stats from my CCG, they are one of the bottom performers nationally, so I'm not anticipating a text anytime soon. It does grate that people less vulnerable (group 7) in my area are being able to book and I'm not. It's very easy for me to get to a vaccination centre, if I was able to book, that would free up a GP space for someone less able to travel, which I would have thought was a positive thing. Although, in reality, it shouldn't really detract from the overall success of the roll out and I accept I'm just a bit bitter, due to my own personal circumstances which isn't in the spirit at all.

@ExpulsoCorona the opting out of data sharing sounds very plausible - and I'm fully aware that individually, GP's are working incredibly hard to get through their Group 6's as fast as possible, and for that, I'm sure we are all very grateful.

Thanks, just worked for me, but didn't work for a friend who is also Group 6 so maybe down to whether or not our respective GPs have added us to a list. Weird and inconsistent.

In my area I know a good number of people in group 9 now invited to book. Including DP

[quote Oaktree55]@ExpulsoCorona The vax rollout has been amazing however it’s become v inefficient at Group 6. The hubs near me have been calling in police etc as they’ve been running way under capacity.

I would expect as a medical professional that you should be better informed than me yes. Perhaps you need to take this up with your local Health Authority or relevant body in charge of the vaccination programme, so GP’s are better up to speed with communication.

Your responses have demonstrated exactly the problem and why I ended up posting on here to inform people.[/quote]
I will not be taking anything up with the health board because quite frankly, we've got enough to do. We haven't been allowed to drop any routine work to manage these vaccinations. It's really turned out to be quite a pain from an admin perspective but the clinics themselves are so much fun and uplifting. Our focus for now is group 6. Once they are sorted, I would guess our focus will be the second jabs for the patients we have jabbed already and the mass centres will crack on through the age groups. No-one has said anything yet, I'm sure it will become apparent with time.

Perhaps the mass centres need to find a way to communicate better?

I do hope people keep starting these threads though, I personally have benefited by letting relatives in their 60s know they could book and yesterday a relative in her late 50s was able to.

The rollout has been amazing.

Well this went left. I’m sure you’re great Expulso, that doesn’t mean there’s no valid complaints about any other GP surgery in the country. My surgery was already going downhill pre covid, it’s just accelerated it.

If I took it personally every time someone complained about where I work on here I’d be in trouble! I know I’m doing my job properly, that’s the best I can do.

The thing is, there are lots of small cogs in this big system. Most people don’t know the bigger picture and approach (which will be hugely complex) and they don’t need to. They just need to deliver the aspect they are working on.

Yes, there are some frustrations for individuals, but on the macro, bigger level it is all working and moving through well.

People in these mumsnet threads are the keen ones, looking to book ASAP. Loads of people aren’t like that. They don’t book when the online site allows them but after they get a letter, but some don’t book then either and wait longer or don’t want to travel or whatever. The overall planners know there will be all these responses. Letting the keen ones find out and book on the national system before they are officially named on the front page is a way to manage the flows through that system. Using both GP hubs and a national system broadly based on mass centres allows the overall operation to catch those who book quickly and those who don’t.

As Expo says, GP surgeries are on Group 6 and when done will get their next orders. It seems likely they will do the elderly getting their second jabs as they are less able to travel so far. So, being finished with group 6 by the date large numbers of elderly need their 2nd jab is the key. Individual GPs presumably have targets to meet or nphave to report in progress and someone up the chain is looking at the info and then deciding when to give them their next task. It might not be at the same time exactly for everyone.

This is a mass mass logistical task and I’m loving finding out more about it lol every day on MN. Fascinated that Group 6 are starting to be able to book on the national site. Fascinated by areas which are booking group 8 or 8 already. Amazed that they’ve already finished group 5 and can get into group 7. Can see that Group 6 are complex and a huge group and have to run concurrently with the age groups. Yes, sometimes a bit frustrated by the comms about it on the national site or at local level, understanding more that it’s partly about only sending out simple and broad messaging and that more complex messaging can confuse people more and that actually, they don’t want everyone in every group trying to book in day 1 of availability, as the system won’t cope, so some of the comms choices are to allow a steady flow of bookings. Fascinating.