It is flu vaccination season and since September, GP surgeries across the county have been busy contacting eligible patients to arrange their vaccines and holding flu clinics which usually see around 450 people in a day. One surgery in Sherborne has taken this to the next level and vaccinated over 2000 people in one day at their flu clinic this Saturday 15 October.
Staff from The Grove Medical Centre worked tirelessly to vaccinate 254 people per hour at Digby Hall, a central and accessible venue within the community, protecting a total of 2292 patients in one day against this potentially life-threatening illness. This beat their previous record of 1800 vaccines in one day from last month.
Stephen Bridger was one of the people receiving his flu vaccination this weekend at the clinic. “I think it’s fantastic what the Grove Medical Centre have done here,” he said. “It has been very well organised. The staff and volunteers are all friendly. They gave the vaccine so quickly I barely noticed it! I always feel safer going into the winter season knowing that I am protected against flu.”
“Vaccines are our best protection this winter, and we want to support our patients to stay well during the coming months. We managed to vaccinate record number of people this weekend, against an illness that can be dangerous, which is a fantastic outcome for our community,” says Dr Middle, a GP at the practice. “We will be running more clinics over the next few weeks for those who couldn’t make it today. I’d strongly encourage people to have the flu vaccine.”
Patient Mr Stephen Bridger getting his flu vaccination with Dr Liz Long of The Grove Medical Centre, Sherborne at the clinic Saturday 15 October 2022
Alex Kimber, Managing Partner at The Grove Medical Centre heads the team that organised this event: “I want to thank the Town Council for their support with the venue, and the staff at the practice who have made this possible.
“The GPs, nursing team and administrative team who have all worked extra shifts and the army of community volunteers that helped us with directing in the car park and helped manage patient flow inside the building. It was lovely to see so many happy patients in one day.”
Patients of the practice who would like to enquire about the flu vaccination can either email TGMC.reception@nhs.net or phone in an afternoon to request an appointment. They can also visit the surgery website at The Grove Medical Centre (thegrovemedcentre.co.uk). The surgery would like to urge anyone who cannot attend a booked appointment to contact the practice to cancel, to ensure that services can be offered to patients who need them.
People registered at other practices who would like to find out more about the flu jab visit their surgery’s website for more info or visit Flu vaccine – NHS (www.nhs.uk).
