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General practice to administer Covid vaccine in care homes, DES reveals

General practice to administer Covid vaccine in care homes, DES reveals

Groups of GP practices will have to administer the Covid vaccine to care home residents and staff, as well as to housebound patients through home visits, the new DES reveals.

The directed enhanced service – revealed this evening – also makes clear that patients will need to be kept under clinical supervision for 15 minutes after receiving the vaccination.

There will need to be a 21-28 day gap between the two doses that need to be administered for the vaccines that are currently close to being approved.

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It also reveals that practices will be paid for vaccinating their own staff.

It confirms the details revealed by Pulse on Friday about the DES, including:

  • A fee of £12.58 per dose administered, with the full £25.16 being paid after the second dose has been given;
  • The groups of practices – likely conforming to the PCN groupings – will have to administer the vaccines across seven days, due to the short shelf lives of the vaccine, specifically the Pfizer one announced today;
  • A registered healthcare professional will need to carry out the clinical assessment and consent. A suitably trained non-registered member of staff will be able to administer the vaccine itself under clinical supervision

Other DES details that were not revealed last week include:

  • Alongside the general practice-led service, other providers (likely to be NHS trusts) will be commissioned to provide the programme through other means, probably via regional vaccination centres in a similar way to the testing centres.
  • Practices will be provided with the vaccines, needles, syringes, diluents and PPE.
  • Should it not be possible to administer the second dose, one IOS can be claimed.


          

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READERS' COMMENTS [10]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

James Stokes 9 November, 2020 9:12 pm

‘Practices will be provided with the vaccines, needles, syringes, diluents and PPE’. As if. They couldn’t even supply PPE last time. Need monitoring for 15 mins ? So someone will go to every housebound patient and wait for 15 minutes after giving it ? Perhaps they can have a cup of tea with the patient and catch covid ( or pass it on more likely) while they are there. Morons

Reply moderated
Subhash Chandra Bhatt 9 November, 2020 10:06 pm

One vial has 1000 doses and need to be used in 5 days. 200 per day so how would you cover 200 patients in oph and nursing home and house bound by waiting 15 minutes after vaccinating them?
Who will do routine work in the mean time if you have only one nurse in practice??

Reply moderated
Vinci Ho 10 November, 2020 4:41 am

Massive challenge. Obviously , the vaccines are manufactured in a Speedy-Gonzales style and will come in as ‘raw’ preparation needing time to draw out from vials .
Without prior outside-trial community application experiences, the possibility of spontaneous adverse reaction(s) has to be taken into account. That is presumably for the 15 minute wait after administration . Alert to anaphylaxis is inevitably a prerequisite.

Reply moderated
Andrew Barber 10 November, 2020 8:15 am

The logistics are too difficult. I will pass on the DES

Reply moderated
Vinci Ho 10 November, 2020 8:29 am

Massive challenge
The vaccines are created and manufactured in a
Speedy Gonzales style and will only come in ‘raw’ preparation in vials needing manual drawing up . One time factor .
In the absence of outside-trial community administration experience , caution is required for spontaneous adverse reaction(s) including anaphylaxis. Hence , the 15 minute wait , second time factor .

Reply moderated
Dave Haddock 10 November, 2020 10:33 am

Difficult to believe even the daftest of cardies will sign up for this.

Reply moderated
Richard Greenway 10 November, 2020 12:21 pm

Of course we want the vaccine.But its a huge logistic challenge,
We can lead -but will need free use of army/ capita/ volunteer workforce to deliver

Delivery every 2 mins., 15 minute wait- so 7 patients under surveillance post vaccination per vaccinator (assuming no ADR /anaphylaxis). Keep them all social distanced. Requires 8+ car parking spaces per vaccinator. A large hall maybe. We can’t have queues in or out or we’ll stoke the pandemic. However, we will need to equip halls with IT links, medical equipment, fridges, freezers.

Don’t let patients sit down -or need to clean. Or maybe do, then they won’t keel over. Or do it outside in January?

Haven’t even thought about care homes.

Ouch my head is hurting

Patrufini Duffy 10 November, 2020 1:34 pm

This is where every practice that signed up to a PCN DES realises that year on year they are going to get sequentially shafted under contracts that ARE LINKED TO YOUR CORE CONTRACT (PMS/APMS/GMS). Whatever Ed Waller tells you, he’s written in that if you breach one, you breach your other “duty”. Then NHSE has access to you. With compound interest, and plenty of tax, this scheme was signed upto by too many preoccupied sheep.

Reply moderated
Patrufini Duffy 10 November, 2020 1:37 pm

Btw…GMC says do no harm. Put the needle in and YOU and solely YOU deal with the consequences. And you can’t fob it off to your nurse, as she needs supervision and you signed the PGD. This NHSE has shown you over 8 months, that you are disposable, you can be lied to and smeared, and you’re a mere work horse, or camel or donkey.

Finola ONeill 10 November, 2020 4:03 pm

Mmmm last month NHS England deliberately briefs patients stoking abuse and negativitty. This month we get to add un unlimited and unfeasible amount of work to our already ridiculous workload. No problems there.