News and Updates | Alresford Surgery Practice

RSV Vaccination

What is RSV?

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is an infectious disease of the airways and lungs. It causes similar symptoms to a cold, including a cough, sneezing, a sore throat or blocked nose. Every year thousands of older adults need hospital care for RSV. RSV is more serious in people with other medical conditions such as heart or lung disease, or a weakened immune system.

Who is eligible for a vaccination?

· Those who turn 75 years of age on or after 1st September 2024

· Those who are already 75 to 79 years old on 1st September 2024

· Pregnant women, at around week 28 of their pregnancy

I am under 75, can I have the vaccination?

Younger people will be offered the vaccine when they turn 75.

When can I have my vaccination?

The programme will begin in September 2024.

Should I have the vaccination?

The best way to protect yourself is by having the vaccine. Almost everybody can have the vaccine but tell the doctor or nurse if you have ever had a serious allergy to a vaccine, or any of the ingredients. If you have a minor illness such as a cold you can receive the vaccine, but if you are very unwell or have a fever, the doctor or nurse may advise you to wait until you are better.

How long does the RSV vaccination protect you for?

In clinical studies the RSV vaccine provided good protection for at least 2 years and is expected to last longer. The vaccine reduces the chance of you suffering from RSV. No vaccine is completely effective, so some people may still get RSV, if you do the symptoms should be less severe.

How do I book my vaccination?

You do not need to contact us as you will receive an appointment booking link via text message if you are eligible. Patients without mobiles will be contacted by telephone.

Will I have side effects from the vaccination?

You may get some soreness, redness or swelling at the site of the injection for a few days after the vaccination. You can report suspected side effects to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA):

On the yellow card website https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/

By calling the free phone line: 0800 731 6789 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)

By downloading the Yellow Card App:

iOS Yellow Card – MHRA on the App Store (apple.com) or

Android Yellow Card Scheme – Apps on Google Play

Where can I find further information about the vaccination?

RSV vaccine for adults (harthealth.nhs.uk)

Your guide to the RSV vaccine for older adults – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A guide to RSV vaccination for pregnant women – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Sensory & Communication Box

Did you know that we now have a Sensory & Communication Box available to patients with a learning disability and/or autism?

These boxes have been put together by NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

Please ask at Reception.

You Said – We Listened….. Telephones

We know there hasn’t been a lot of love for our telephone system – lots of you have told us that the queue facility wasn’t good enough and that you frequently got cut off after waiting for over 20 minutes. Looking for a solution to these problems we have been in negotiations with our current telecoms supplier for the last two years. We are now pleased to report that we have negotiated an early release from our contract and commissioned a new system from a new supplier.

Our new telephone system will go live on Friday 17th May 2024 and we have been working hard behind the scenes to get everything set up. We will have engineers here on site with us for the switch over which will take place on Friday morning. This should be seamless with little if any downtime but if your call can wait, we’d really appreciate that.

From a caller’s point of view you may notice several changes. Firstly, you will be told where you are in the queue and if the queue reaches a certain size, or you have been waiting for a while, you will be offered the choice of receiving a call back. This is an automated process which holds your place in the queue and calls you back when you reach the front. From our point of view we will have easy and ready access to data on how busy the phones are and the number of calls waiting.

All incoming and outgoing calls will be automatically recorded and used for training purposes.

Alongside this investment in technology, we are increasing the size of the team handling the calls and we hope both these factors will improve the experience for our patients in their first contact with the surgery.