Tag: Firs House

  • Supply problems force surgery to reschedule flu campaign

    Supply problems force surgery to reschedule flu campaign

    Firs House Surgery has fallen victim to the nationwide lorry driver shortage, which has led to deliveries by one of the largest flu vaccine suppliers in the UK being delayed.

    As a result, efforts to offer flu jabs all over-50s and vulnerable adults in the village in preparation for a predicted winter influenza spike have suffered a temporary setback. Plans for a team of local volunteers to support surgery staff on vaccination days have also had to be revised.

    The comprehensive vaccination campaign has now been pushed back from a start date of 18th September to 2nd October for adults, though the vaccination schedule for eligible children has not been affected.

    Rescheduling

    The surgery explained the challenge they have faced: “We have had to cancel over 1,000 booked appointments and reschedule new dates. This time-consuming work has now been completed and all patients who had booked an appointment with us have been booked into a new appointment.”

    The patients who had already been given appointments will receive a text or a letter confirming a new date and time. If those aren’t convenient, they can contact the surgery to re-book. If they no longer need an appointment, they can call to cancel.

    The surgery explained: “Unfortunately, due to the work involved in rescheduling our flu campaign, we no longer have the capacity to individually contact the remaining eligible patients inviting them to book in, and therefore[we] invite all eligible patients to contact the surgery and book an appointment now.”   

    The adult groups eligible for the flu vaccine are:

    • everyone aged 50 years and over
    • those aged 6 months to under 50 years in clinical risk groups
    • pregnant women
    • long-stay care home residents
    • frontline health and social care staff
    • close contacts of immunocompromised individuals

    The new vaccination dates for the Histon surgery are Saturday and Sunday 2nd/3rd October, and Saturdays 9th October, 30th October and 6th November.

    Anyone who previously had an adult appointment on 18th/19th September,  25th September or 16th October has been rescheduled and should have already received a text or letter confirming a new date.

    Children first

    Firs House’s child flu vaccines have not been affected by the supply problems and the first child flu vaccine clinics will be taking place this weekend on Saturday and Sunday 18th/19th September. After that, weekday appointments will be available in Cottenham in October.

    Parents of children aged 2-3 years, or aged 2-17 with underlying health conditions, are being urged to book an appointment if they haven’t been contacted already. Children aged 4-15 years (reception to year 11) will receive their vaccine via the School Immunisations Team.

    Covid boosters next

    Although the government has this week announced a booster vaccination programme for Covid, how involved local surgeries will be in administering the programme is not yet known and Firs House is awaiting further guidance.

    What they do know so far is that clinical trials have found giving the Covid booster and the flu vaccine together is safe, and that the booster will be given in the same order of cohorts as the first jabs, with care home residents and front-line health carers and workers being vaccinated first. While they await further guidance they will be pressing ahead to give flu vaccines to patients without delay, to offer maximum protection as soon as possible.

    For contact details and additional information, please visit the practice website, here.

  • Volunteer Flu Vaccination Marshals

    Volunteer Flu Vaccination Marshals

    The Firs House Surgery are looking for volunteer marshals to help with the coming autumn flu vaccination programme. They are planning for 5 weekend days in September/October and are looking for volunteers to do a morning (8am to 12.30pm) or afternoon (1.30-4.30pm) shift.

    If you are interested in helping please email jo@standrewshiston.org, who is coordinating the volunteers for the Firs for this programme.

  • Active travel – have your say on future planning consultation

    New proposals would see the middle section of Station Road closed to motor vehicles travelling south. County Councillor Ros Hathorn urges residents to have their say in a public consultation.

    The pandemic gave us a glimpse of living in a low traffic world; families walking and cycling around the village, empty roads, low levels of traffic noise, parents more relaxed on the streets. The village felt calmer and shopping locally by bike felt good.

    I was not the only one to notice the change. Confronted with the twin perils of a national health crisis and the climate emergency the government is encouraging active travel, announcing ‘PM kickstarts £2bn cycling and walking revolution’

    Among the schemes proposed – all funded by central government – is one for Histon & Impington, and a consultation is running so please get involved and share your thoughts.

    The scheme

    The section of Station Road after the Baptist church towards Firs House surgery is narrow and is normally lined with parked cars. Under the proposed scheme ‘modal filters’ will be placed on Station Road near the War Memorial/ Baptist church, and this stretch of road, by The Geographer and Firs House Surgery, will become a no through road to southbound motor vehicles.

    Cyclists, pedestrians, mobility scooter users etc will have full access, but motorists travelling south through the village from the High Street will have to detour along Bridge Road (B1049) to access this middle part of Station Road and those travelling from the south to the High Street will also, instead, have to use the B1049.  There will, however, be full access to this stretch for all vehicles from the Chequers Road/ Firs House surgery end.

    A Cambridge modal filter, using planters. Photo: Cycling Dad UK

    ‘Modal filters’ determine the types of traffic that can access a stretch of road, but are designed not to impact on emergency services access. They are positioned so that bikes, cargo bikes etc can get round them, but the road is blocked for cars and other motor vehicles. In Cambridge, some schemes use large planters for this. The Bell Hill trial has used a water filled barrier which is less attractive, but cheap and good for trialling changes. The proposals here are for a barrier on both lanes of Station Road in line with the Baptist Church car park with a water filled barrier (like on Bell Hill) blocking the southbound lane which is removable for emergency access and a barrier to stop cars and vans on the northbound lane.   

    The consultation points out that the bus stops outside the Baptist church will be lost under this scheme, and this is a downside of the proposal. If the modal filter was a camera the bus stops might be saved as it would allow bus access to continue, but this option is expensive so the consultation is important for gathering views. The loss of this bus stop is a concern and, if you think this is important, please add your voice to the request for a camera modal filter – or just express clearly how important you feel this bus stop is.

    Safer, quicker, easier

    This is not a ‘traffic scheme’, but an active travel scheme that will encourage our community to be people focussed rather than car focussed, and support people to cycle or walk.

    Although it will make some car and van journeys slightly longer, it will make active travel more attractive and the easier, quicker, choice for those who can walk and cycle. For those who rely on a car, low traffic environments are also safer as there are fewer other cars.

    Despite the infant school relocation, Station Road remains a key school route and safety is a major concern. Those cycling north towards the High Street meet a stream of drivers coming towards them, and high traffic levels at the Cambridge Road/ Bridge Road junction by the camel sculpture junction confirm that large numbers of drivers use that route as a rat run.

    For drivers on the High Street turning right at Station Road currently presents an attractive alternative to waiting for the zebra crossing and queuing at the traffic lights to join the B1049. By turning into Station Road those cars are driving head on into the flow of families cycling and walking to school. There is not enough room for cars to safely pass cyclists but they regularly try and there are many reports from parents on social media and in conversation about near misses on Station Road.

    This proposed scheme will make Station Road a significantly less attractive rat run as drivers would have to join the busy traffic on Water Lane/B1049 at the war memorial junction from an uncontrolled crossing, which can be difficult.

    Wider impact

    There are concerns that this proposal would push more traffic onto the B1049 and make other places busier, but previous road closures suggest this may not make a significant difference. The B1049/ High Street junction was closed for a number of weeks 2 years ago when the junction was modified. Whilst there were initially traffic jams at peak times, after about 3 days the traffic jams disappeared. It seemed as though those using Histon and Impington as a cut-through found alternative routes when Histon and Impington became less convenient.

    There are also implication for residents. Traffic noise will drop and the area would feel a lot calmer, so parents should feel more confident about their children moving freely in the space. Residents will, though, have to drive further to access the centre of the village.

    For wheelchair users, mobility scooter users and those with mobility issues, these measures should make this stretch a more pleasant accessible space to move around. If crossing the road is challenging – for example with a large buggy or if you move slowly – it is easier in a low traffic environment. On the downside, some disabled drivers will have to drive slightly further.

    Neighbourhood plan

    The neighbourhood plan was recently voted through with over 90% of voters in favour. A community where people walked and cycled locally was a key theme. The shift to active travel will not just magically happen, we need to restructure where we live. Our spaces must be people not car focussed.

    On this basis, my assessment is that the positives significantly outweigh the negatives:

    • Station Road Dental surgery – no negative impact
    • Firs House Doctors surgery – no negative impact
    • Pharmacy – possibly some impact, but trade is closely connected to prescriptions from Firs House
    • The Geographer (sadly now closed) was always largely used by locals. Whilst there may be some impact on passing trade, these changes would also create new opportunities. The outside area was always well used and there may be an opportunity to spread tables further onto the road in a low traffic environment.

    If you have strong feelings about this proposal please comment on the consultation now. This is your opportunity to have a say make your voice heard. Consultation closes 24 August 2021.

    Access the consultation online at https://consultcambs.uk.engagementhq.com/cats

  • Tempers fray as Firs House surgery battles with caseload

    Tempers fray as Firs House surgery battles with caseload

    Demand for GP services is up by 50% since last year, yet staff struggling to cope with the volume of work are still facing hostility and abuse from some patients.

    Firs House surgery continues to be the target of “derogatory, unfounded and sometimes aggressive and threatening comments” as patients’ frustrations boil over at the constraints on medical care created by the pandemic. 

    Demand for medical services in the village has grown by 50% since March 2020 and to cope with the extra work, face to face appointments have had to be limited to those assessed as having the greatest clinical need.

    But not everyone is happy with the emergency arrangements. While most patients have expressed gratitude for the care the surgery has continued to provide throughout the Covid-19 crisis, the negative behaviours directed at surgery staff that HI HUB reported in March continue.

    Threats, inappropriate demands, shouting and swearing, and personal insults have all been thrown at staff working flat out to provide patient care.

    Overworked

    Firs House is leading the Covid vaccination programme in the area for a Primary Care Network of GP Practices and the team staffing the local community vaccination hubs in Milton and Over are often doing so in addition to their day jobs, sometimes working shifts at weekends, on their days off and during their annual leave.

    Organising, planning and running these clinics takes a huge amount of time away from both clinical and admin staff, who at the same time, are under huge pressure from the public to deliver ‘service as usual’.

    Insulting comments such as “your service is disgusting” and “this is not good enough” have led the surgery to remind people on Facebook that “our reception staff cannot create appointments where we do not have clinicians.”

    Having to deal with patient hostility has been “incredibly disheartening” for the team, the surgery says, as are “inaccurate social media posts from people who have made no attempt to contact the surgery to resolve issues they may be experiencing.”

    They said: “We hope you can understand why we find the suggestion that ‘GP’s are not working hard enough’, or ‘not at all’ as claimed on some media platforms, is offensive, irresponsible and not reflective of the vast majority of practices across England.

    “Please understand that every member of the practice team has gone above and beyond, sometimes at the cost to themselves and their family, to ensure that the patients get the best possible care that we can deliver.”

    Additional information and full contact details for Firs House Surgery can be found at their website.