I thought it would be helpful to post a summary of the latest briefing given to West Sussex MPs by the Sussex CCG.
* All our local hospitals continue to be under pressure but mostly from the demand from non-Covid patients and the impact of staff having to quarantine because of Covid. The change in the quarantine period to 5 days subject to negative tests has certainly help to ease the pressure on absences.
* Infection rates remain high although are largely being driven by school age children who are non-symptomatic or who have only mild forms of the virus. A number of care homes have however been closed to new admissions as a precaution which is in turn putting pressure on hospital bed availability if they are returning from a hospital stay.
* NHS staff who had not been vaccinated would need to have their first jab by the beginning of February to escape the mandatory consideration for continued employment after April. Across Sussex this involved potentially up to 400 staff. Fortunately, the Government has now revisited this decision on mandatory vaccinations which I very much welcome having been in the minority who voted against it in Parliament. I do not believe that medical interventions should be compulsory much as I continue to urge everyone to get vaccinated and the evidence overwhelmingly shows it helps protect against significant impacts of Covid, and practically we cannot afford to lose such crucial frontline staff especially at this time when we rely on them even more than usual.
* As I mentioned before the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead is now being used as the main hub for cancer treatment to help prioritise treatment so some cancer patients may be diverted there.ospital iin East Grinstead
* As at last week across West Sussex 87.2% of people over 12 had received a first vaccination.
81.9% had received a second vaccination and 86.4% of those eligible over 12 had received a booster
* Most housebound patients have received their booster jabs although 600 have yet to be done but this is mostly people who have not responded or have proved uncontactable.
* Vaccination teams are again visiting schools for first and second jabs whilst clinically vulnerable children aged 5-11 can also be jabbed at certain community pharmacies and GP led vaccination centres.
* As from Wednesday there will be a local facility for the verification of vaccination records for people who received their jabs abroad, available at Chichester and Brighton. This involves up to half a million people across the UK who have not been unable to download their usual vaccination history often needed for international travel in particular.
* The pace of vaccinations has inevitably been slowing as most people have now had all three vaccinations on offer. Before Christmas around 15,000 jabs were given every day across Sussex mostly as a result of the successful dash to get the boosters out. The daily rate is now typically between 2000-2500 meaning that it is no longer practical to maintain the number of sites currently available. The CCG is now starting to consolidate some sites with the aim of making sure that there is at least one regular dedicated vaccination site in each local authority area. Complementary to this there will be more outreach and mobile facilities available, and we have seen these operating very successfully in East Worthing in particular in recent weeks. GP surgeries will be in contact with their patients about changes being made for those yet to have all their jabs.
* It is looking as though in future annual booster jabs will be available and perhaps combined with flu jabs normally given in Autumn and winter months. The CCG has therefore started long term planning for that as hopefully we emerge from the worst of the pandemic. However, it is important to acknowledge that we are not out of the woods yet and whilst the Government has relaxed many of the restrictions, which is welcome, we should all continue to use our own common sense and certainly exercise consideration and respect for more vulnerable people around us.
