NHS England defends pharmacy vaccinations against GP attack
In response to a GP representative's criticism of pharmacy vaccination schemes, NHS England's Kenny Gibson tells C+D they are needed to relieve "snowed under" GPs
EXCLUSIVENHS England has defended pharmacy's flu vaccination programmes in response to claims from a GP representative earlier this year that the sector did not improve uptake. In August, Dr Charlotte Jones, chair of the BMA's General Practitioners' Committee in Wales, told C+D that it was a "limited, rose-tinted view" to claim that vaccination schemes in pharmacies increased patient choice . The answer to whether pharmacists targetted patients who would not otherwise be vaccinated by their GP was "quite clearly no", she said. But NHS England's head of immunisations Kenny Gibson told C+D last week that GPs would find it "very difficult" to deal with the growing number of patients covered by national vaccination regimes. "[GPs] are snowed under with appointments and we therefore need alternative provisions," Mr Gibson said. The decision to vaccinate people in pharmacies was "born out of patient feedback", because they "don't want to wait for that one appointment in general practice [on a] Saturday", he stressed. "Patients want it [and] GPs don't have the capacity to deal with mass vaccinations through the winter planning period," he said. Dr Jones had also argued that allowing pharmacists to deliver flu vaccinations could increase the risk of elderly or confused patients being vaccinated twice. But Mr Gibson told C+D that instances of "double-jabbing" were "few and far between" and would not harm a patient in any case. "In my experience, there's no jab that has a detrimental effect on the health of that patient even if you're given it twice," he added. Mr Gibson also told C+D that pharmacies across the country would have the opportunity to deliver the nasal flu vaccine next year. The previous week, LPC consortium Pharmacy London said it was "very disappointed" not to have been commissioned to deliver the Fluenz vaccine service this year. Last month, pharmacy leaders hit back at Dr Jones' comments for being "short-sighted" and warned that GPs were denying patients a choice.
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