Winter Vaccination Programme 2022
The Scottish Government has announced that people aged 65 and over will be first in line for their flu vaccination and COVID-19 winter booster.
Texts, emails or letters with appointment times have been issued to those aged 65 and over in Lothian. If you are 65 or over and your invitation has not reached you, please call the National Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 for assistance.
Please note that if you are registered as Housebound you will not be sent a letter inviting you to a vaccination clinic. You will be contacted by telephone by someone from your Health and Social Care Partnership Vaccination Team to arrange a suitable time for them to visit you in your home.
Texts, emails or letters with appointment times for patients who are At Risk and are aged 5-64 will be issued shortly and should reach eligible patients in Lothian by 17 October.
Appointments for all other priority groups will be made available as the programme progresses. You can check your eligibility for the flu vaccination and/or the COVID-19 winter booster via NHS Inform.
Those without internet access can contact the National Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013 for any assistance.
Primary and secondary school children will receive their flu vaccination at school. Appointment letters have been sent to homes inviting children aged 2 to 5 who are not yet in school forward for the free flu vaccine, which is given as a painless nasal spray.
More information on the winter vaccination programme, how to book and how to obtain a copy of your COVID Vaccination Status can be found at NHS Inform and on NHS Lothian’s website which includes a helpful list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Initial COVID-19 vaccinations
Everyone aged 16 or above is eligible for a first dose, second dose and one booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.
If you've never received a coronavirus vaccine or an invite letter, you can register online for an appointment. This allows NHS Scotland to send you alerts and information digitally rather than through the post.
You need to be registered with a GP practice in Scotland to use this service. If you aren't, you can phone the National Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013.
If you have missed any of your vaccinations, you can book an appointment using the booking portal by selecting the option marked '16+ first, second and primary booster'.
Appointments for children and young people under 16 years of age must be booked by calling the National Vaccination Helpline on 0800 030 8013.
UPDATE JUNE 2022
We would first of all like to say a big thank you to all of our patients who have been so warm and generous in their support of the practice over the last couple of years (and longer). It is greatly appreciated.
We would like to give you all an update on our appointments. We hope this will help everyone to navigate their way through the system so they get the result they need.
By way of background:
At the start of the pandemic, we were instructed to change our appointment system to a ‘GP discussion first’ arrangement, whereby patients call the practice and are allocated to a GP for a call back, either the same day (if urgent) or at a later date. The GP and patient then have a discussion and come up with a plan about what to do next. It might be that the patient’s questions can all be addressed by telephone. Or the patient and GP may agree that a face to face appointment is necessary and this can be arranged.
And now:
Now that the majority of pandemic restrictions have been removed, we have chosen to stay with a ‘GP discussion first’ system – at least for the time being. It has a number of advantages:
- many patients prefer not to have to attend the practice, whether due to their work schedule, difficulty travelling or simply convenience
- as doctors, we get a ‘heads up’ on the problem the patient has, which gives us time to think, arrange blood tests/ X-rays in advance, or discuss with colleagues if necessary
- we are also able to allocate the best slot: for complicated cases, we can allocate longer appointments; while for simpler cases, we can allocate a shorter slot to make best use of time
This current system seems to give us the best of both worlds – the convenience of the option of telephone consulting for patients and the advantage of triaged and planned face-to-face consultations for doctors.
However, If you would prefer to see the doctor in person, this is also fine. There are many clinical circumstances where telephone discussions simply do not work. When speaking to our reception team, please ensure that you state specifically that you would prefer a Face to Face consultation and we can make sure it happens.
We remain open to any suggestions for improvements to our appointment system. Please speak to any of our reception team or to our Practice Manager Stephanie Currie if you have any suggestions to make.
We truly value and respect our reception team and we love working with them. We are thankful to all our patients for treating them with the kindness and respect they so highly deserve.
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine