LloydsPharmacy employees in the Newcastle area are helping to vaccinate NHS workers against Covid-19. 

According to the multiple, six of its store-based and relief pharmacists are helping the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to vaccinate more than 17,000 NHS staff, volunteers, students and charity partners.

The vaccination project is expected to take around twelve weeks and has seen up to 3,500 COVID-vaccines administered per week.

Farhaan Qureshi, LloydsPharmacy regional manager for Newcastle and Northumberland said: “We’re delighted to have been given the opportunity to work with the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation trust in this capacity and are proud to be playing a small part in the national vaccine effort.

“As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, it’s critical we help ensure all frontline healthcare workers are protected against the virus so they are able to carry on providing essential care to their patients. 

“Our skill share partnership is one of a kind and has generated some brilliant results for the trust over the last four years. It demonstrates what can be achieved through greater collaboration within primary and secondary care and is a reminder that our pharmacists do so much more than dispense prescriptions and sell over the counter medicines.

“They may not be in a clinical setting, but they have clinical skills and it’s important we utilise these where we can, not only to the advantage of trusts but also to the benefit of patients.”

Dr Elizabeth Murphy Consultant Physician in Occupational Health from the trust, said: “The first stage of the COVID vaccination programme has been a team effort drawing on skills from the diverse groups of staff necessary to support a complex and rapidly changing requirements. The professionalism, skill and flexibility of the pharmacists in the team has achieved outstanding results for all those involved.”