Closing down everywhere I go
Well I seem to be becoming a Vaccine Centre closure specialist. First QMU drive through and now the EICC mass vaccination centre.
After four months at QMU it was closed down in early June. And now after what will be a further three months at the EICC it too is now scheduled to close on Sun 19th Sep.
As of this moment I do not yet know where I will end up. We have been told that all of the current Edinburgh Health Centre sites will continue and perhaps expand and a number of new smaller sites will open across the city. There will also be opportunities in centres throughout the rest of Lothian. We have been told that NHS Lothian are keen to retain all of their current staff, offering substantive posts to any who are eligible and want them, and offering extensions from the end of Oct 2021 to the end of Mar 2022 to those of us who wish to remain temporary and will happily stop when the need for vaccine delivery can be met from within existing staff resources.
It seems unfortunate that they are choosing to close the largest and the busiest of the vaccine sites in Lothian but there are a range of reasons behind the decision. My hope is that the one to two thousand people per day who currently access a vaccine at the EICC can be accommodated in all of the smaller new sites without too much disruption or too much waiting. I’m sure there will be initial teething problems but hopefully it will all settle down again quickly.
As to my new location, who knows at the moment. Leith Community Treatment Centre would be my base of choice as it is a five minute walk away. However I would be happy to be sent to most other Edinburgh centres so long as I can get there in a reasonable time by bike or by bus. I would not currently be willing to travel by car to any other vaccination site as a base.
Meanwhile vaccinations continue at a personal rate of 60 to 80 a day. By the time you have asked the same six or so questions forty or fifty times in one day the words begin to mush together in a rather meaningless way. The only thing that keeps you focused and sane is that each individual is unique and responds and reacts in different ways. From calmly routine and phlegmatic to shaking with fear and tension and all spaces in between.
My hardest case in the last few weeks was nothing to do with vaccines. It was a young person attending for a first vaccine who chose to share that they were in the process of transitioning. They had been referred by their GP to Chalmers Sexual Health Centre and was on the waiting list. They were anxious to talk to someone about their issues, their fears and their anxieties and were concerned about how long they might have to wait. I was not able to let them know what the waiting list for this service was and after establishing the limited range of people they felt able to discuss this issue with I suggested that they contact one of the young persons sexual health drop in clinics available across Lothian. Unfortunately, due to Covid of course, none of these are currently operating a drop-in service but appointments can be arranged in advance and young people can be seen at relatively short notice. We had a look online as to where might be the nearest place for them to contact and found a telephone number and online appointment booking service that they could access and use. I do hope they follow through with this and attend an appointment. I have however since found out that the waiting time for the Gender Identity Clinic at Chalmers is currently 2.5 years! Their website states that they are currently offering appointments to people who were referred in Oct & Nov of 2018! Good grief that’s just not right.
Well I now have a week off from vaccinating and will be back for one week before hopefully finding out which vaccination centre I will be based at from the week of 20th September.
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