"Chaos" at Oldham Covid vaccination centre as elderly and vulnerable patients left queuing outside in the rain

Oldham's vaccination programme has been described as "chaotic" by patients who have waited up to an hour to receive their Covid jab.

The vaccinations are being delivered at Barley Clough Medical Centre on Glodwick Road.

Queues began to form shortly after the 8am opening time, and have continued all day. Scores of elderly and high-risk patients have been left waiting outside in the wind and rain whilst staff inside struggle to maintain social distancing.

One Chronicle reader who did not want to be identified told us she was "hugely upset" at the delays at the medical centre.   "I was with my 87-year-old mother who had been given an appointment to attend.  She hasn't been out of the house since March of this year, and when she finally gets outside, we have to queue outside in the cold.

"People were offering their cars for elderly patients to sit in and keep warm, I'm hugely upset, and want to make sure that people don't get the same experience tomorrow.

"Inside, the hard working staff were struggling to maintain social distancing and I was worried about my mother's safety."

It's understood up to ten people have been told to attend the surgery at the same appointment time, despite the fact that only four nurses are administering vaccines.

Following the injection, patients are required to sit down and wait for fifteen minutes before being allowed to leave, causing further delays.

Joyce and Alan, both 76 had been standing outside for twenty minutes.  "We were called by our GP to attend an appointment this afternoon.  We've arrived in good time, but you don't expect this sort of wait if you've got an appointment."

Bernard Woodhead had also been waiting outside for his vaccination. "I received a call from my GP to come down straight away, and I've ended up queuing for ages.  I'm 87 years old."

One staff member, who did not want to be identified told the Chronicle that some elderly people had complained about the wait in the cold: "I've had to deal with complaints all day today, particularly when it began to rain.  The problem is that there just isn't the space inside.  There is a queue through the car park, then a further wait inside before finally getting to see a nurse."

It's understood there are no chairs for patients to use before their vaccinations, with vulnerable patients forced to stand and wait.

A spokesperson from NHS Oldham CCG said: “Oldham was one of the first boroughs in Greater Manchester to begin offering the COVID-19 vaccine and we are planning to vaccinate around 1,000 patients every day. This was the first site in Oldham, but by the end of this week we will be offering vaccinations across two more areas in Oldham, with more sites introduced over the coming weeks.

The CCG said patients should attend appointments as normal, and bear with them as the process is improved. 

“This is a fast-moving programme and with the nature of the vaccine and its short shelf-life, we need to invite as many people possible.  We apologise for any inconvenience today’s clinics caused, it was the first full day since the programme was rolled out, so we will continue to adapt how we work to mitigate these issues in the future.”

Cover will be provided for patients queuing outside the centre from tomorrow if it is safe to do so.

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