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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Matt Jarram

Eastwood GP vaccine centre is only 'partial success' for area, says council leader

A council leader believes a GP surgery in Eastwood offering vaccines to the elderly is only 'a partial success' as large parts of Broxtowe borough are still missing out.

Councillor Milan Radulovic, leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, has been writing to health bosses each day demanding that his area is covered.

He said elderly residents are being forced to travel miles from their homes to places such as Retford and Gamston to get their first dose of the vaccine.

Broxtowe is the only part of Nottinghamshire without a vaccine centre, he added.

He said many elderly and vulnerable people were worried about using taxis or public transport to access sites further afield.

He believes residents in places such as Beeston, Chilwell, Stapleford and Toton are "missing out" and that a vaccine centre needs to be created soon.

Health bosses tried to support Broxtowe by allowing residents to be vaccinated at a GP surgery in Eastwood.

This is a pilot scheme, and if it proves successful, it could be rolled out to other surgeries across the county, says Nottingham and Nottinghamshire's Clinical Commissioning Group.

Close to 2,000 residents living in Eastwood have been given their first Covid-19 vaccination dose at the Church Walk Surgery.

Signage leading to the vaccination clinic at Church Walk Surgery in Eastwood (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)

Councillor Radulovic said: "It has gone far enough to help people in the north of Broxtowe (but not the south). It is a partial success.

"We should have a community base rolled out for people who can't travel long distances.

"It is frustrating - a lot of these people have not been out the house since March and now they are being expected to get into a taxi or use public transport.

"Most of them can't or won't travel."

"Stapleford, Beeston, Chilwell and Toton are missing out. These areas are having to travel distances to access the vaccine.

"All I am saying to them is Eastwood has got a centre now roll it out across the rest of the borough."

He said the only assurance he has been given by health bosses in charge of the vaccine programme is they will "look at it and evaluate it".

A spokeswoman for the CCG said: "A number of local vaccination services have already gone live with more sites set to go online in the next few weeks.

"This is a very careful process, and several rigorous checks take place to ensure safety, accessibility, power supplies, security and many other factors.

"We are working with NHS England and Improvement to support the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in more agile settings.

"We will be using these agile methods to boost uptake in areas that don't have a site.

"It is a process that takes time which cannot be rushed, and we are grateful for the public's patience."

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