LloydsPharmacy supports Newcastle NHS staff to administer 17K Covid-19 vaccines

In a bit to support mass Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country, LloydsPharmacy has extended its support to  the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to administer the vaccines to over 17,000 staff, volunteers, students and charity partners.

The vaccination project is expected to take around twelve weeks and has seen up to 3,500 Covid vaccines administered per week, LloydsPharmacy has said on Thursday (Feb 25).

Earlier, the pharmacy chain had successfully supported a project to help the authorities to vaccinate 12,500 NHS workers across Newcastle against winter flu during a span of two months.

Farhaan Qureshi, LloydsPharmacy Regional Manager for Newcastle and Northumberland said: “We’re delighted to have been given the opportunity to work with The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in this capacity and are proud to be playing a small part in the national vaccine effort.

''As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, it’s critical we help ensure all frontline healthcare workers are protected against the virus, so they are able to carry on providing essential care to their patients.”

Working at The Freeman and Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospitals, six relief and store-based Lloyds pharmacists have helped contribute to the 15 million jabs that have been administered to the top four priority groups across the country in the last 10 weeks, the pharmacy chain said.

Farhaan continues: “Our skill share partnership is one of a kind and has generated some brilliant results for the Trust over the last four years. It demonstrates what can be achieved through greater collaboration within primary and secondary care and is a reminder that our pharmacists do so much more than dispense prescriptions and sell over-the-counter medicines.

“They may not be in a clinical setting, but they have clinical skills and it’s important we utilise these where we can, not only to the advantage of Trusts, but also to the benefit of patients.”

Dr Elizabeth Murphy Consultant Physician in Occupational Health from The Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust said: “The first stage of the Covid vaccination programme has been a team effort drawing on skills from the diverse groups of staff necessary to support a complex and rapidly changing requirements. The professionalism, skill and flexibility of the pharmacists in the team has achieved outstanding results for all those involved.”