GP locums can now book a booster via an NHS service, one NASGP GP Locum Chambers member has told us.
The doctor wrote: “I thought it might be useful to circulate this link to Chambers Locums if anyone is unsure about how to book a booster vaccine. I used it to book in at my local centre. No one even asked for ID – I just explained I was a doctor.”
The booster campaign launched last month on 16 Sept and is open to frontline health and care workers and identifying other eligible patients. NHS England has claimed that it will get in touch with patients as and when they become eligible.
Booster jabs are recommended as a ‘top up’ for those who received a second dose over six months ago.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, a GP locum and chair of NASGP said: “Thanks to this advice, I have just been able to get my booster vaccine! It still amazes me that, even as a leading national organisation for GPs with over 6k subscribers we’re in daily contact with, we have to rely on members rather than government to disseminate essential occupational health information.
“Many of us will have had our second vaccine over six months ago. If all the bookings that are coming through LocumDeck are anything to go by, we really must all make sure that we protect ourselves as we go into full-on winter mode.
“It’s great to be part of such a growing community of GP locums, so please remember to share any information like this with us as, more often than not, we are the first place where many locums hear about important things like this.”