Caithness Vaccine Update - Gemlins in the Software Booking System Fixed

28th October 2021

The uptake of the COVID vaccine programme in NHS Highland has been excellent and we fully appreciate that many are now keen to get their COVID booster and their flu vaccination.

In Caithness NHS Highland will be delivering Flu and COVID vaccination clinics for the following GP Practices - Riverbank Surgery, Dunbeath Surgery, Lybster Medical Centre and Riverview Practice. Eligible patients with these practices will either be invited by letter or asked to call the NHS Highland Vaccination Hub.

Other Caithness practices are running their own clinics and they will get in touch with their patients directly.

We know patients have experienced difficulty in getting through to the Vaccination Hub. The software issues experienced at the beginning of this programme have been resolved and we are pleased to say that an appeal for more colleagues to assist the Hub Team has resulted in offers of support which will help us in operating these phone lines.

We will roll out vaccination over the coming weeks, prioritising the over 70s, the clinically extremely vulnerable and the severely immunosuppressed and working through other eligible groups.

A number of NHS Highland clinics have already been held in Caithness but we appreciate that not everyone was able to attend or book into the clinics. More clinics have been scheduled for the first two weeks of November for both Wick and Thurso.

Clinics for Riverbank patients will be held in Thurso on the 01, 02, 08 and 09 November. Clinics for Riverview patients will be held in Wick on the 04, 05, 11 and 12 November. These clinics are appointment only.

Patients who would like to attend the clinics in Thurso on the 01 and 02 November are asked to phone the Vaccination Hub on 01463 705331.

Patients wishing to attend clinics on the other dates (04, 05, 08, 09, 11 and 12 November) will be contacted by letter.

For patients registered with the Dunbeath practice a drop-in clinic is scheduled for 30 October (11:00 - 18:00) in Dunbeath Community Hall. Patients registered with Lybster Practice can attend a drop-in clinic on 06 November (10:00 - 16:00) in Lybster Community Hall, Dunbeath patients can also attend this clinic. As these are drop-in there is no need for patients to book an appointment.

Further detail on these clinics can be found on the NHS Highland website - See https://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/COVID19/Pages/Vaccination.aspx

We will continue to assess the demand for vaccination and, if required, schedule in more local clinics.