Agenda item

Purpose of the item: To update the committee on the status of the Frimley Integrated Health and Social Care System Covid-19 Vaccination Programme

Witnesses:

Sarah Bellars, Executive Director of Quality and Nursing, and Director of Infection, Prevention and Control, Frimley Collaborative

Paul Corcoran, Senior Quality Manager, Frimley Collaborative

Ruth Hutchinson, Director of Public Health, Surrey County Council

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    A Member noted that it had recently been announced in the media that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine could be stored at standard pharmacy freezer temperatures (originally, it had been thought that it had to be stored at extremely low temperatures). Would this discovery affect the rollout of the vaccine? The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing replied that the Frimley Collaborative received its direction from NHS England, and it had not received any direction regarding a change in the Pfizer/BioNTech storage temperature, so the vaccine continued to be stored at very low temperatures in accordance with official guidance.

2.    A Member asked what the response of BAME communities had been to the vaccination programme. The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing stated that the Frimley Collaborative had been working on uptake and health inequalities from the start of the vaccination programme. It was important to adapt to different communities. The Frimley Collaborative had been successful in its work with BAME communities with regards to the vaccine so far.

3.    A Member enquired how successful the programme had been in care homes in the Frimley area. The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing said that Frimley had been part of the national pilot in care homes and that all care home residents in the area had been offered the vaccine by the end of January 2021, well before the deadline of 15 February 2021.

4.    A Member asked what Frimley’s approach was to vaccinating people with learning disabilities and autism. The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing responded that steps had been taken such as simplifying settings for people with learning disabilities, utilising national tools such as easy-read materials and making the vaccination sites a comfortable, safe environment.

5.    A Member requested more information on how hard-to-reach people were being reached for vaccination. The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing replied that a meeting had been held in a community hall to understand vaccine hesitancy amongst the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community, and insights from that meeting had been taken on board. Also, vaccines for homeless people were being brought forward in terms of priority, in order to offer vaccinations to homeless people when they were more accessible during the period of cold weather. The Senior Quality Manager added that in the Surrey Heath area (at the Lakeside site), special clinic sessions with fewer attendees and more allocated time had been set up especially for clinically extremely vulnerable people who might be concerned about attending busy clinic sessions.

6.    A Member stated that there had been some publicity encouraging people who were not registered with a GP to come forward for a vaccination; this message seemed to have fallen away recently. Should this message be reintroduced? The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing responded that unregistered patients such as homeless people or private patients could contact a GP surgery to ask to receive the vaccine. She agreed to raise the possibility of reemphasising this point with NHS England.

Recommendations:

The Select Committee congratulates Surrey Heartlands and Frimley Health and Care on the successful rollout of their Covid-19 Vaccination Programmes and recommends that they:

1.    Ensure that the need to continue following government guidelines on social distancing and mask wearing is both verbally communicated to all residents at their vaccination appointments and included in a prominent position in all leaflets;

2.    Expand their communications messaging to as wide a variety of social media websites and applications as possible to help tackle vaccine disinformation;

3.    Ensure that those residents without access to mobile phones and/or the internet receive all required vaccination information in a timely manner, and that steps are taken to identify and support those who are digitally excluded as quickly as possible.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1. The Director of Public Health is to share with the Select Committee a link to intelligence on vaccine hesitancy data that is in the public domain;
2. The Associate Director of Communications and Engagement for Surrey Heartlands is to the share with the Select Committee a copy of the Equality Impact Assessment;
3. The Director of Public Health is to share with the Select Committee the initial findings of the Equalities, Engagement and Inclusion Working Group;
4. The Associate Director of Communications and Engagement for Surrey Heartlands is to raise with NHS England the issue of including in communications messaging data on the success of the vaccination programme to date and evidence of the protection vaccines provide after the first dose;
5. The Executive Director of Quality and Nursing for the Frimley Collaborative is to raise with NHS England the possible reintroduction of messaging around residents not needing to be registered with a GP to receive a vaccine.