Covid: Award-winning jab scheme to resume in Bristol

Bristol's vaccine programme won an award in November

An award-winning scheme encouraging marginalised communities to get the Covid-19 vaccine will resume in the autumn.

The NHS-led programme targets people in the west of England who rarely access healthcare.

Government funding has ended, but the scheme's bosses are seeking cash from the regional integrated care board.

Participants said it showed what could be achieved with a "tea urn and some biscuits."

The Maximising Access programme seeks to address differing levels of immunisation across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire by working with communities where access or uptake is lower.

The team works with a number of partners to administer the Covid jab in job centres, workplaces, mosques, temples and churches.

As well as minority ethnic communities, it also aims to reach groups such as the homeless, those newly released from prison, sex workers and the unemployed.

It also targets people with insecure immigration status, refugees and asylum seekers.

The scheme targeted those who are homeless or newly released from prison

The programme won the Health Service Journal award last November for "improving health outcomes for minority ethnic communities".

The Maximising Access work will restart regardless of whether it receives integrated care board funding, a spokeswoman said, although plans for the next phase of the scheme have yet to be finalised.

It had particular success in Bristol, where staff worked alongside the city council's community champions team at the Citizen Service Point on Temple Street.

The hub also enables people to access face-to-face council services such as accessing cash from a crisis prevention fund.

'A welcoming space'

Anne Morris, chief nurse for the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Covid-19 vaccination programme, said the achievements of the team there had been "phenomenal", according to The Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Staff also gave advice on how to register with a GP, how to access healthcare in general, or advice on how to care for wounds.

In a report to Bristol City Council's health and wellbeing board, those running the project said they had strived to create "a welcoming space".

Attendees were offered a free hot drink, and were invited to talk about their "lived experiences, health, and vaccine status".

Attendees at the Temple Street clinic were offered a hot drink and a biscuit

Between May 2022 and March this year, the team saw approximately 80 people per clinic, resulting in conversations with 2,480 individuals.

Over 450 people received a Covid-19 vaccination, often their first dose, while another 70 people received a flu vaccine.

One person involved commented: "This clinic has shown what can be done with a tea urn, some biscuits and determination to make sure everyone knows why it's important to get vaccinated."

Attendee numbers dropped

The involvement of the community champions team was initially funded by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, but this came to an end in March of this year.

Between March and the scheme closing for the summer months in early June, the number of clinic attendees dropped and vaccination numbers were "significantly lower".

But the community champions team may well be involved when the programme restarts in the autumn.

Clare Cook, head of the Maximising Access programme, said the scheme's success was down to building "services around the strengths and existing structures" of local communities and "being in tune with local citizens lived experiences, needs and preferences".

She said similar collaboration would "be a priority for the autumn campaign" but said final plans would depend on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's recommendations on who will be eligible.

A spokeswoman for Bristol City Council said more details on the future of the vaccine scheme would be available once funding has been confirmed.

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