The numbers of people already vaccinated in this country is a huge success story.  Over six million doses already given and at a rate now of half a million doses per day, the majority of which have been delivered by primary care.

Not many countries have a primary care system like ours, and we should be rightly proud of the way it has responded in the last few weeks.  Without primary care, the system would not have been able to mobilise the vaccination programme as quickly as it has (compare this to how long it is taking to get the mass vaccination centres set up!).  As ever, it is general practice that has responded the quickest.

But these things don’t just happen by themselves.  This ability to respond is predicated on individuals who have the skills to make things happen, to coordinate, to be flexible, and to do whatever is required.  Things like this don’t happen without people who are prepared to set aside things like normal working hours and reasonable levels of stress to ensure the end goal is achieved.

In most places, these people are the practice managers.

This time the challenge has been even greater than normal.  Not only did this set up take place over the Christmas and New Year period (meaning Christmas holidays were not an experience enjoyed by many practice managers last year!), but there has also been the additional challenge of requiring multiple practices to work together in ‘PCN groupings’.  This has meant more people involved, more challenges to overcome and more individuals to keep happy – in short, more complexity.

Whilst even getting the vaccination centres off the ground in the first place (agreeing the location, getting approval, working out the operational processes, sorting out the staffing, agreeing the financial flows etc etc) was a feat in itself, it has by no means been the end of the story.  The challenges continue on a day to day basis.  Deliveries arrive or are cancelled at extremely short notice, there are constant changes to the vaccines and how they can be used, and new rules on what is, and is not allowed, on an almost daily basis.

Even for the most seasoned practice manager, these are testing times.  In our latest Practice Index podcast one of the practice managers on the panel described it as, “the biggest challenge I have faced in my whole career”.   No longer only practice managers, now also vaccination centre managers.

Practice managers should be proud of the way they have responded, proud of the numbers already vaccinated across the country, and proud of the impact they are ultimately going to have in enabling us all to get through this crisis.

But one note of caution.  We are still only six weeks in to this vaccination programme.  There is still a long way to go, as the programme is expected to continue for many months to come.  For many, the current pace is simply not sustainable.  We need to find a way of moving from this start up phase to one that is more manageable long term, where the responsibilities are shared and the pressure is not focussed on one or two key individuals.

We need to look after ourselves, and we need to look after each other, so that this great work that general practice has started can be completed.

Author – Ben Gowland, Director, Ockham Healthcare

You can now listen to The Practice Index Podcast: Episode 6 – The Covid vaccination programme so far