Booster Covid jabs set to delay return to normal service at Peterborough surgery

At the start of the vaccine rollout in December, Lakeside Healthcare made the decision that Stanground Surgery would become a designated vaccination centre and the core services provided there would be transferred to New Queen Street Surgery in Whittlesey.

More than 38,000 Covid vaccinations were given out from the site between December and June but this required a significant number of internal changes to the building.

Among the work needed to allow the surgery’s core services to resume there is the replacement of the IT infrastructure, new flooring and the redecoration of many of the rooms.

The return could also be delayed by the fact that the government has announced plans for a booster vaccination programme, to begin in September, and it is not yet known whether Stanground Surgery will be used as part of this.

This has led to the Lakeside Healthcare stating that they are not sure when normal service can be resumed at Stanground, much to the frustration of many residents.

In an online statement, Lakeside Healthcare New Queen Street & Stanground Surgeries said: “Between December and June we delivered more than 38,000 COVID vaccinations from the Stanground Surgery site for patients from across the South Peterborough area.

“In order to make Stanground a designated vaccination centre it was necessary to make a significant number of internal changes to enable the transfer of the core services previously provided there to our main site New Queen Surgery.

“We recognise that Covid restrictions are now being relaxed and we are now working very hard to get Stanground into a position that we can resume core service delivery from there.

“The works taking place include the replacement of the IT infrastructure, a redecoration of many parts of the site and new flooring being fitted. Unfortunately, we cannot yet confirm a date when this work will be completed.

“The other key factor in the reopening of Stanground as a surgery is the recent confirmation from the Government of the COVID Booster programme starting in September.

“At this stage, we do not know what this booster programme will look like nor how and where it will be delivered for out patients. Stanground may be an option we have to consider.

“We appreciate this may not be news you want to hear but it is important that we keep you updated with the true position. As the situation unfolds, we will keep you updated on our progress and we thank you for your patience and understanding at this time.”