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NHS Highland to ‘take on board’ community input as vaccination responsibility set to return to GPs





Vaccinations are to be delivered at local level again after a change in policy by the Scottish Government.
Vaccinations are to be delivered at local level again after a change in policy by the Scottish Government.

NHS Highland has promised it will “take on board” community input as responsibility for delivering vaccinations - including those for flu and Covid as well as a range of other illnesses - is returned to GPs in the region.

Traditionally delivered at local level vaccinations became a health board responsibility following changes to GP contracts in 2018 and the last vaccinations were delivered locally in the Highlands in 2023.

Since then there have been widespread accounts of people not getting appointments they were due or having difficulty travelling in from rural areas to centrally organised vaccination sessions.

There have also been concerns about a fall in vaccination levels across the region.

Whooping cough has been on the rise across the region and last year a child in the Highlands died of the condition.

Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing has been pushing to revert to the previous model of delivery and yesterday was delighted when the Scottish Government announced that this would happen.

No timetable has been announced for the change back yet.

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Mr Ewing said: “Under the centralised service GPs did not even know which of their patients were and were not immunised - a shocking failure of the system - and one which should in itself have meant that it was never implemented in the first place.”

Health Secretary Neil Gray has agreed to meet Highland GPs so that he can hear their thoughts on how the change back can be implemented.

A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: “We recognise that it has been difficult to implement the shift of vaccine activity out of general practice to NHS Board-delivered models following the new GMS contract (2018).

“In the Highland Health and Social Care Partnership we have been working closely with colleagues in general practice to develop options for the delivery of vaccination from practices where that would be most appropriate. We submitted a proposal for this at a national level and we have now heard that our proposal has been accepted by the Scottish Government.

“This is the first step in a significant redesign process.

“We will work very closely with general practice, Public Health Scotland, our own existing vaccination team and the Scottish Government, and take on board input from communities, to develop and implement changes whilst ensuring the public are kept up to speed on what this will mean for them.”


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