50 mile round trips to book a booster jab in Dorset
GP's say strains on the NHS are making the booster rollout incredibly difficult.
Last updated 12th Nov 2021
Booking a booster jab that's close by is proving difficult for some people in Dorset.
It's claimed some appointments are being offered as far away as Devon and on the Isle of Wight.
It's amid a period of pressure on frontline services and GP practices.
Alastair Nisbet from Dorchester tried booking his jab in Chickerell but once he had done so, the booking disappeared.
His wife was only able to book a jab in Yeovil, or Wareham if she was willing to wait for December.
Alastair told Greatest Hits Radio:
"When Sajid Javid started saying 'get your booster jab' and we were a few days after our 6 months, my wife and I went online to see what was available and the answer was 'not much in Dorset'.
"It's something like a 54 mile round trip. I just thought it's not really very good. You can't encourage people to say 'go and get your booster, they're available everywhere' when you've got to make a 54 mile round trip."
Alastair says he's happy to make the trip, but fears others might not be so fortunate with transport and could be left waiting.
The issue is being blamed on the intense pressure the NHS is under at the moment to roll out the flu jab campaign, deal with a backlog of cases and attend to the rising number of COVID hospitalisations.
Most recent data shows 746 people were hospitalised with COVID-19 in the week up to 6th November in the South West alone.
Dorset GP Dr Forbes Watson said:
"General Practice is under huge, huge demand and it did step up and try to deliver the majority of first and second doses. But we do not have the work force to deliver face to face services and normal services.
"Practices have looked and done what they can but they've had to prioritise the normal service, still dealing with COVID related illness and also delivering the flu campaign.
"We all want this to be done, and we want it to be as easy as possible for residents. But we have to be honest, we just cannot do all of these things all at the same time because we just do not have the resource in terms of workforce to deliver this."
Dorset CCG say more clinics are being brought on board with the rollout.
Dr Andy Rutland, Dorset GP and clinical lead for the Dorset COVID-19 vaccination programme, said:
“We anticipate that further local sites will come on stream to book on the national booking system in the coming weeks.
“Demand is high and available appointments continue to be added to the national booking system so please keep continuing to check availability and we’d like to thank you for your patience during this very busy time for the NHS.”