The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has now been approved for use and the NHS will be starting to offer this to priority groups as soon as supplies arrive.
When will a vaccine be available?
The first, limited, deliveries of the vaccine started week beginning 7 December and the NHS is offering them to those who need them most based on the guidance from the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations.
Who will get a vaccine?
The vaccine will be offered to those at greatest risk from COVID-19 first, people over 80 years old and prioritised frontline health and social care workers. This is based on the guidance from the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations which is available here. As more supplies of the vaccine or alternative vaccines become available it will be rolled out in phases to people aged between 80 and 50 and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable. People will be invited for a vaccine when it is their turn so please avoid contacting your local hospital or GP practice.
Where and when can I get a vaccine?
To start with, vaccines will only be available at hospital ‘hubs’ where the Pfizer vaccine can be stored safely. However, arrangements are also being put in place to offer vaccines from a number of different locations as more supplies and different vaccines become available. These include local vaccine services provided by GPs and pharmacists and new dedicated vaccination centres to make sure that everyone who needs a vaccine is able to get one.
We will be contacting more and more people over the coming days and weeks, as well as protecting those of our staff who are at greatest risk. Please don’t contact your NHS to seek a vaccine, we will contact you
Further information and how you can help us
We will share further information with you as it becomes available. In the meantime, there are three things people can do to help:
For patients concerned that they may have coronavirus or may have come into contact with someone who has, the NHS 111 online service has created coronavirus pages that tell patients what they should do based on their particular circumstances. These can be accessed at: https://111.nhs.uk/service/covid-19
To protect patients and staff the practice has from Tuesday 17th March 2020 changed ALL APPOINTMENTS TO TELEPHONE TRIAGE – PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE PRACTICE UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN SPECIFICALLY ADVISED TO DO SO BY A DOCTOR OR NURSE – PLEASE PHONE TO ARRANGE WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED. If you have concerns about Coronavirus please get advice from NHS 111 online DO NOT PHONE THE PRACTICE as you will only be re-directed to NHS 111.
Please use our online service – SYSTM1 Online to order repeat medications if you can (click on order Repeat Prescriptions on our website to access or download the APP) to and ensure you have a chemist set up to collect your prescriptions electronically. You can access SYSTM1 online from any smartphone with the APP or via the internet. If you do not have a login or a nominated pharmacy this can be arranged over the phone for you.
NHS111 online is where you get a sick note for your employer if you are off due to symptoms or having to self islolate – YOU WILL NOT GET THIS FROM THE PRACTICE. There is a link below to take you to this page.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience these drastic changes in service may cause but we assure you the Doctors and Staff are following all the current guidance and doing all we can to ensure we can continue to offer essential services to all our patients.
Bev McLean, Business Manager
Please find useful links to more information below:
https://111.nhs.uk/isolation-note USE THIS TO GENERATE A SICK NOTE IF YOU ARE OFF WORK
This is guidance on Social Distancing and who is Vulnerable:
General Update Information:
https://www.leedsccg.nhs.uk/health/coronavirus/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/wuhan-novel-coronavirus
Leeds City Medical Practice is a well established NHS General Practice based in the Beeston area of Leeds. It is split between two main sites (Beeston Hill and Parkside) and also has a smaller part-time branch surgery (Crossland). See the right hand column for more information on each surgery.
The Doctors and Nurses work across all of these sites on a rota basis and patients can be seen at either of these surgeries. Patients registered with the practice are free to consult with any of the GPs and Nurses.
As well as a source of information about our practice, the staff and the services we provide, we hope you will use this website as a useful resource for other health-related information. Please have a look around and do send us some feedback if you like. We can use your ideas to improve our online services and further develop the content of this site.
We are part of NHS Leeds and a member of Leeds South & East Clinical Commissioning Group.