Express & Star

Wolverhampton vaccination team gave out nearly 18,000 jabs in four months

A hospital trust board has heard of how a collaborative team effort made a success of its Covid-19 vaccination programme.

Published

Executive members of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust were given details of the scale of the programme by the vaccination hub team around the city as part of the public trust board meeting.

Matt Wood, operational lead of the programme, said the hub had managed to deliver 17,769 doses over a four month window, with a record of 581 doses in one day.

Mr Wood, who is a partner of the service efficiency and delivery team, said his role had been about asking the staff involved in the programme to do the almost impossible.

He said: "It's something they have never failed to rise to and deliver during this programme.

"It's involved sourcing space, making sure the areas are safe and asking very nicely to borrow other staff from other teams, as well as training them and ensuring everything was in place for the delivery of the programme.

"The thing I have learned is the importance of teamwork and, particularly, how fantastic the staff have been working collaboratively, and what they've delivered over four months bears testament to that."

Other members of the vaccination hub spoke about the challenges they had faced during the implementation and delivery of the vaccination programme as part of the staff voice section of the meeting.

Challenges

Senior pharmacy technician Penny Hayes spoke about how prep services had been involved in setting up the treatment room, including training and the challenges around the Pfizer vaccine.

She said: "The Pfizer vaccine is temperature light and movement sensitive, so it has to be handled very carefully, arriving frozen and packed in dry ice in a box of 195 files, or 1,170 doses.

"There were a lot of vaccinators from different specialities, so pharmacy technicians tried to be as helpful and supportive as they could to create a nice atmosphere and keep the treatment room running smoothly."

Other members of the hub spoke of the management of staff training, infection control and lateral flow and lamp testing for symptoms, with no staff outbreaks reported at the vaccination hub, and any adverse reactions, of which there were relatively few.

The team were praised by trust chairman Professor Simon Field and other members of the board, with Professor Field saying the story had not ended there as the trust was already looking ahead to booster vaccinations in the autumn.

The board also heard from chief officers and partners about the different areas of the trust and their performances, with a commitment to create a statement about patient and staff bullying discussed.

Tributes were also paid by trust chief executive Professor David Loughton to innovation, integration and research officer Professor Sultan Mahmud on what was to be his last meeting.

Professor Mahmud will be leaving the trust to take up a new position as head of health for BT and Professor Loughton offered praise for his work over the last seven years.

He said: "I could not believe, back in 2014, what Sultan would have achieved, the boundaries that he has walked through and achieved for us to put us, nationally, right up with the best in this country.

"He's taken on things in his portfolio and whatever he has touched just seems to turn into success."

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.